|theological  seminary,!, 

I  Princeton,  N.  J.  % 


From  the  PUBLISHER. 


# 


^^^^^^fedfe^^fe^fe^^4fe^,«^^yy^fe 


BS  1198  .W94  1848 
Wylie,  J.  A.  1808-1890. 
A  journey  over  the  region  o 
fulfilled  prophecy 


6. 


rs/^** 


JOURNE Y 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY. 


BY 

THE    REV.    J.    A.    WYLIE 

DOLLAR,    SCOTLAND. 


NEW    YORK: 
ROBERT  CARTER,  53  CANAL  ST. 

1843. 


PREFACE 


The  writer,  having  been  led  lately,  by  circum- 
stances which  it  is  unnecessary  here  to  explain,  to 
compile  a  short  account  of  the  nations  and  coun- 
tries of  antiquity,  so  far  as  the  fulfilment  of  pro- 
phecy is  concerned,  now  offers  the  following  pages 
to  the  public,  in  the  hope  that  they  may  be  useful 
to  those  who  may  not  have  time  to  peruse  larger 
treatises  on  this  important  subject. 

The  plan  adopted  in  this  little  work  is  that  of 
an  imaginary  journey — a  form  which  the  writer 
conceived  best  calculated  to  impress  especially  the 
youthful  mind,  and  which  afforded  him  peculiar 
facilities  for  the  attainment  of  two  ends,  which  he 
thinks  may  be  combined  with  great  advantage, 
namely,  that  of  presenting  a  picture  of  Bible  coun- 
tries, and  that  of  exhibiting  the  fulfilment  of  the 
more  remarkable  predictions  of  the  Bible  on  these 
countries. 

In  a  treatise  so  elementary  as  the  present,  the 


iv  TREFACE. 

writer  has  not  thought  it  necessary  to  cite  authori- 
ties, especially  at  the  bottom  of  the  page  ;  but  he  is 
not  conscious  of  having  introduced  any  fact  or 
statement  for  which  he  is  not  prepared  to  produce 
a  proper  voucher. 


CONTENTS 


Page 

Introduction 7 

Assyria — Nineveh 15 

Mesopotamia — Babylon 35 

Arabia — The  Ishmaelites 66 

Egypt 75 

Edom 97 

Moab 113 

Ammon 119 

Gilead  and  Bashan 123 

Tyre         ........  129 

Judea 139 

Conclusion        .        .        .        .        .        .        .155 

APPENDIX. 

Ruins  of  Nineveh 161 


A   JOURNEY,  &c. 


INTRODUCTION. 

It  may  be  thought  by  some  a  very  bootless 
undertaking  to  attempt  the  discussion  of  so 
extensive  a  subject  within  the  limits  we  have 
prescribed  to  ourselves.  The  region  of  ful- 
filled prophecy  includes  so  many  countries, 
once  fair  and  flourishing,  and  so  many  cities, 
once  great  and  populous,  that  to  visit  them 
all,  and  to  tell  how  they  have  been  broken 
down,  as  the  word  of  the  Lord  foretold,  may 
appear  an  impossible  task  in  so  short  a  trea- 
tise. Materials  might  be  found  here  to  fill 
many  volumes  ;  and  how  is  it  possible,  in  the 
few  pages  that  follow,  to  arrange  and  illus- 
trate these  materials  so  as  to  give,  we  do  not 
say  a  complete  view — for  that  is  not  at  all 
times  either  necessary  or  possible — but  a  sat- 


O  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

isfactory  view  of  so  important  a  subject  ?  It 
is  in  the  details  that  much  of  the  interest  and 
beauty  of  fulfilled  prophecy  lies ;  and  our 
present  limits  do  not  allow  us  to  enter  much 
into  details.  But  while  this  is  true,  still  it 
will  be  our  own  fault  if  our  present  journey, 
rapid  though  it  be,  be  wanting  either  in  in- 
terest or  profit.  By  carefully  husbanding  our 
time  and  resources — by  taking  the  most  di- 
rect road  to  the  country,  or  city,  or  locality 
we  are  in  quest  of — by  entering  into  no  use- 
less controversies,  and  no  profitless  specula- 
tions by  the  way — by  laying  down  the  reso- 
lution at  starting,  and  rigidly  adhering  to  it, 
not  to  go  out  of  our  way  a  foot-breadth  to  see 
any  thing  of  mere  general  interest,  and  which 
does  not  bear  on  the  great  subject  of  prophecy 
— we  shall  see  much  in  a  short  time,  and  far 
more  than  may  suffice  to  satisfy  us  that  there 
is  the  most  complete  and  perfect  accordance, 
in  all  respects,  between  the  aspect  of  these 
regions  and  the  prophetic  pages  of  the  Bible. 
Here  it  may  be  truly  affirmed,  that  he  who 
runs  may  read.  But  if  any  one,  from  the 
glimpses  we  are  now  to  afford  him  of  these 
countries,  seen   under   the   light  which   the 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.      9 

Bible  sheds  upon  them,  shall  be  desirous  of 
going  over  the  ground  again  more  leisurely, 
we  have  to  remind  him  that  there  are  other 
guides  to  be  had  on  this  now  much  frequented 
road,  who  will  take  him  to  any  spot  which  he 
wishes  to  visit,  who  will  remain  with  him  there 
as  long  as  he  pleases,  and  will  answer  every 
question  regarding  any  mountain,  or  valley, 
or  ruin  in  his  path  which  he  chooses  to  put. 
That  our  limits  are  narrow,  then,  is  no 
valid  objection  to  the  attempt  we  are  now 
making  to  bring  under  the  eye  at  once  the 
whole  region  of  fulfilled  prophecy.  Do  we 
wish  to  have  our  minds  impressed  with  the 
circumstantiality  of  prophecy — the  unerring 
precision  with  which  it  disclosed  the  future 
state  of  nations  and  countries  in  their  most 
minute  particulars  ?  In  that  case  we  must 
confine  our  attention  to  one  branch  of  the 
subject — we  must  select  one  particular  nation 
or  country,  and  minutely  and  patiently  com- 
pare its  past  and  present  condition  with  an- 
cient predictions.  But  if  we  wish  to  be  able 
to  form  some  idea  of  the  extent  and  grandeur 
of  prophecy,  we  must  do  as  we  are  now  do- 
ing— we  must  contrive  to  survey  the  whole 


10  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 


region  at  one  time — we  must  take  our  stand 
so  as  that  we  shall  be  able  to  look  from  the 
hoary  mounds  which  stud  the  banks  of  the 
Tigris  and  Euphrates  on  the  east,  to  the  gi- 
gantic ruins  which  rise  beside  the  Nile  on  the 
west,   with  all  the  monuments  of  departed 
glory  and  present  desolation  that  lie  between. 
Suppose,  now,  that  we  were  to  meet  one 
who  had  never  seen  the  universe,  and  that 
we  wished  to  convey  to  him  some  idea  of  the 
power,  wisdom,   and  goodness  of  Him  who 
made  the  universe,  how  should  we  proceed  ? 
Whether  should  we  take  a  plant,  for  instance, 
or  an  insect,  and  expatiate  upon  the  skill  and 
delicacy  with  which  its  structure  has  been 
arranged  ?  or,  would  it  not  be  better  to  take 
the  universe  as  a  whole,  and  attempt  to  con- 
vey to  him   some  idea   of  its  vastness  and 
magnificence  ?     No  doubt  the  preferable  way 
would  be  to  unite   both  plans,  did  circum- 
stances allow ;  but  if  this   were  impossible, 
and  if  we    were  constrained  to   make  our 
choice  between  the  flowers  of  the  field  and 
the  stars  of  the  firmament — between  those 
parts  of  creation  whose  short-lived  beauty  is 
only  for  a  day,  and  those  whose  glory  lasts 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     11 

through  all  ages — we  would  certainly  give 
the  preference  to  the  latter,  as  being,  at  first 
view,  at  least,  the  most  impressive  and  elo- 
quent preachers  of  the  greatness  and  glory  of 
Him  who  made  all  things.  Now  we  are  so 
situated,  in  some  respects,  at  present.  We 
have  it  in  our  power  either  to  confine  our  at- 
tention to  one  particular  country — in  which 
case  we  should  be  able  to  show  that  the  most 
minute  and  incidental  circumstances  relating 
to  its  future  state  were  fully  foreseen,  and 
clearly  predicted — or  we  may  survey  the 
vast  range  which  prophecy  takes  in,  the  nu- 
merous nations  and  countries  to  which  it  re- 
lates, and  the  long  cycles  of  time  which  it 
embraces  ;  and  this,  we  are  satisfied,  is  the 
better  way  for  estimating  the  force  of  that 
majestic  proof  which  arises  from  prophecy 
to  the  divinity  of  the  Holy  Scriptures. 

We  have,  further,  to  remark,  that  our  sub- 
ject calls  us  to  a  quarter  of  the  world  which 
possesses  an  extraordinary  interest,  indepen- 
dently of  its  being  the  region  of  fulfilled 
prophecy.  "  The  parts  we  speak  of,"  to  use 
the  eloquent  words  of  Sandys,  the  first  Eng- 
lish traveller  who   surveyed  the  East  with 


12  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

the  eye  of  sober  observation, — "  the  parts  we 
speak  of  are  the  most  renowned  countries 
and  kingdoms,  once  the  seats  of  the  most 
glorious  and  triumphant  empires  ;  the  theatres 
of  valor  and  heroical  actions  ;  the  soils  en- 
riched with  all  earthly  felicities  ;  the  places 
where  nature  hath  produced  her  wonderful 
works  ;  where  arts  and  sciences  have  been 
invented  and  perfected  ;  where  wisdom,  vir- 
tue, policy,  and  civility  have  been  planted — 
have  flourished  ;  and  lastly,  where  God  him- 
self did  place  his  own  Commonwealth — gave 
laws  and  oracles — inspired  his  prophets — sent 
angels  to  converse  with  men ;  above  all, 
where  the  Son  of  God  descended  to  become 
man — where  he  honored  the  earth  with  his 
beautiful  steps — wrought  the  work  of  our  re- 
demption— triumphed  over  death,  and  as- 
cended into  glory."  So  illustrious  is  the  re- 
gion we  are  now  to  visit.  It  is  closely  con- 
nected with  all  our  recollections  of  the  past, 
and  scarcely  less  so  with  our  hopes  of  the 
future.  It  is  pregnant  with  lessons  of  wis- 
dom to  individuals  and  nations  ;  but  we  mean 
at  present  to  view  it  only  in  one  light,  namely, 
as  the  land  in  which  the  Bible  was  written, 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     13 

and  which  is  covered,  to  this  hour,  with  sol- 
emn monumental  evidence  of  its  truth. 

We  shall  begin  our  journey  on  the  plains 
of  Chaldea,  the  renowned  site  of  Nineveh 
and  Babylon.  Having  surveyed  the  monu- 
ments of  ruin  with  which  this  region  abounds, 
we  shall  pass  westward  across  those  deserts 
where  the  sons  of  Ishmael  are  still  found 
dwelling.  We  shall  next  go  down  into 
Egypt,  and  survey  those  venerable  monu- 
ments which  lend  an  air  of  solemn  grandeur 
to  a  country  which  otherwise  would  be  ac- 
counted the  most  degraded  land  on  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Re-crossing  the  Nile,  we  shall 
traverse  the  deserts  of  Sinai,  and  journey 
eastward  to  where  the  hoary  mountains  of 
Edom  look  over  the  sands  of  the  wilderness. 
Thence,  journeying  north,  we  shall  traverse 
the  once  rich,  but  now  desolate  lands  of 
Moab  and  Amnion.  Then,  skirting  Judea  on 
the  north,  we  shall  stretch  across  to  the  shore 
of  the  Great  Sea,  where  the  miserable  remains 
of  Tyre,  the  crowning  city,  are  still  to  be 
seen,  on  a  little  island,  with  the  Mediter- 
ranean chafing  its  strand,  and  sending  the 
echoes  of  its  hoarse  murmur  along  the  cliffs 
2 


14  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

of  Lebanon,  by  which  the  fallen  city  is  over- 
shadowed. And  last  of  all,  we  shall  sketch 
the  outline  of  those  prophecies  which  relate 
to  that  land  and  people  which  must  ever  be 
to  us  the  most  interesting  of  all  the  countries 
and  nations  of  the  earth — the  land  and  peo- 
ple of  Judea.  There  will  be  no  time  to  tarry 
by  the  way — to  turn  out  of  the  high  road, 
and  examine  the  vestiges  of  the  cities  which, 
in  former  days,  illustrated  this  region  by 
their  splendor,  and  now  darken  it  by  their 
ruins.  We  must  be  content  to  behold  from 
afar,  as  we  pass  on,  the  dark  mounds  of  the 
fallen  Babylon — the  desolate  palaces  of  Am- 
nion and  Moab — the  flowerless  plains,  the 
blasted  hills,  and  the  prostrate  temples  of 
Palestine;  and  having  thus  gone  round  the 
territory  of  prophecy,  and  seen  how  vast  it 
is,  and  how  strong  the  towers  and  bulwarks 
which  defend  its  frontier,  we  shall  return,  we 
believe,  with  no  mean  idea  of  this  goodly 
land,  even  though  we  should  not  have  time  to 
pass  far  within  its  border,  and  to  examine, 
one  by  one,  the  numerous  monuments  of  the 
truth  of  the  Divine  Word  with  which  it  is 
occupied  and  enriched. 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     15 


ASSYRIA-NINEVEH. 


Now,  then,  we  begin  our  journey.  We 
are  on  the  Plain  of  Shinar — those  rich  level 
plains,  of  which  the  patriarchal  family  of 
Noah,  descending  from  the  mountains  of  Ar- 
menia, took  possession  soon  after  the  flood. 
Here  flourished  the  earliest  of  the  Antedilu- 
vian races  ;  here  were  founded  the  first  of  the 
Antediluvian  kingdoms  ;  and  here,  as  might  be 
expected,  we  meet  with  the  most  ancient  and 
venerable  of  those  monuments  which  Provi- 
dence has  left  standing  on  the  earth  to  attest 
to  all  who  live  upon  it  the  truth  of  his  Word. 
But  before  speaking  of  the  wrecks  with  which 
this  plain  is  covered,  let  us  look  at  the  glory 
and  power  of  which,  in  other  days,  it  was  the 
seat  and  home. 

Assyria  Proper  is  bounded  on  the  west  by 
the  Tigris.  Mespotoamia  is  the  country  em- 
braced by  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates.     But  in 


16  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

the  meantime  we  may  be  allowed  to  overlook 
the  geographical  divisions  of  these  countries, 
and  to  speak  of  Assyria  and  Mesopotamia  as 
forming  one  continuous  plain, — which  in  real- 
ity is  the  case.  On  this  plain  flourished  the 
early  kingdoms  of  Nineveh  and  Babylon. 
The  site  was  well  chosen.  Perhaps  the  earth 
does  not  contain  another  plain  better  adapted, 
in  all  respects,  for  being  the  seat  of  a  mighty 
empire.  It  is  defended  on  the  north  by  a 
rampart  of  lofty  mountains,  whose  snow-clad 
peaks  are  seen  like  a  line  of  white  clouds  hang- 
ing in  the  blue  sky,  even  when  the  plains 
which  they  overlook  are  languishing  under 
the  heats  of  summer.  The  upper  part  of  this 
noble  plain  is  watered  by  numerous  streams, 
which  have  their  rise  in  the  high  grounds  of 
Armenia.  Its  middle  and  southern  portions 
are  watered  by  the  Tigris  and  Euphrates. 
These  rivers  have  their  period  of  annual  over- 
flow, somewhat  like  the  Nile,  when  their 
waters  cover,  for  many  leagues  together,  the 
contiguous  part  of  the  plain,  converting  it  in- 
to swamps  ;  but  in  former  days  their  streams 
were  confined  by  embankments  ; — side  canals, 
with  sluices,  served  at  the  period  of  flood  to 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     17 

draw  off  the  superfluous  waters,  and  to  irri- 
gate the  plain  ;  and  thus  its  inhabitants  had  at 
their  command  the  means  of  an  almost  un- 
limited fertility.  A  delicious  sky,  a  fertile 
soil,  and  abundance  of  water  covered  the 
plain  everywhere  with  such  richness  and 
beauty,  that  it  looked  like  the  picture  of  that 
celebrated  garden  which  was  the  crown  of 
the  young  world,  and  which,  there  is  every 
reason  to  believe,  existed  somewhere  in  this 
very  region.  The  seats  of  a  numerous  and 
industrious  population  were  thickly  scattered 
over  its  surface,  and  more  especially  on  the 
banks  of  its  rivers.  The  Tigris  and  Euphra- 
tes were  embellished  with  cities  whose  size 
and  splendor  were  inferior  only  to  the  two 
renowned  capitals — Nineveh  and  Babylon. 
In  addition  to  the  productive  powers  of  this 
plain,  which  were  such  as  to  leave  its  inhabi- 
tants nothing  to  wish  for,  its  situation  placed 
within  the  reach  of  its  people  the  delights  of 
the  most  distant  and  different  regions.  The 
two  noble  rivers  by  which  this  plain  is  trav- 
ersed, opened  for  the  inhabitants  of  Mesopo- 
tamia and  Assyria  a  communication  with  the 
Indian  Seas  on  the  one  hand,  and  the  moun- 
2* 


18  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

tains  of  Armenia  on  the  other ;  so  that  one 
living  in  Babylon  might  attire  his  person  in 
the  stuffs  of  India,  adorn  his  dwelling  with  its 
gems,  or  replenish  his  table  with  the  products 
of  the  hilly  region  on  the  north.  Indeed  a 
better  proof  cannot  be  had  of  the  amazing 
productiveness,  and  the  vast  resources  of  this 
region,  than  the  power  to  which  Nineveh  and 
Babylon,  and  the  empires  of  which  they  were 
respectively  the  head,  attained,  and  the  rapid- 
ity with  which  they  rose  to  it.  They  were 
the  first  great  empires  the  world  saw  ;  and 
as  they  were  the  greatest  examples  of  power 
the  world  had  yet  seen,  so  were  they  also  of 
profligacy.  Against  them  were  pointed  the 
earliest  denunciations  of  Divine  vengeance ; 
and  now  the  pages  of  history  and  the  deso- 
late site  which  they  occupied,  testify  to  all 
how  fully  and  fearfully  their  doom  has  been 
inflicted. 

Of  Nineveh  we  shall  speak  in  the  first 
place ;  because  of  the  two  cities  she  was  the 
first  to  rise  to  eminence.  Nineveh,  the  capi- 
tal of  the  Assyrian  empire,  stood  on  the  east- 
ern bank  of  the  Tigris.  Its  foundations  were 
laid  by  Asshur,  the  grandson  of  Noah.     For 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PRORHECY.  19 

many  centuries  afterwards  it  continued  to  be 
a  place  of  small  importance  ;  and  it  was  not 
till  it  was  enlarged  by  its  second  founder,  Ni- 
nus,  that  it  became  the  first  city  of  the  world. 
The  historians  of  antiquity  have  transmitted 
several  particulars  regarding  it,  from  which 
some  idea  may  be  formed  of  its  greatness. 
Its  figure  was  oblong.  It  extended  south- 
wards along  the  bank  of  the  Tigris  for  about 
twenty  miles,  and  backwards  from  the  river's 
brink  to  the  eastern  hills.  Its  walls  wrere  a 
hundred  feet  in  height,  and  so  broad  it  is  said, 
that  three  chariots  could  run  abreast.  Fifteen 
hundred  towers,  each  two  hundred  feet  high, 
placed  at  regular  intervals  along  the  wall,  still 
further  adorned  and  strengthened  the  ram- 
parts of  Nineveh.  The  walls  are  said  to  have 
inclosed  a  space  of  sixty  miles  in  circuit. 
We  are  not  to  suppose,  however,  that  all  this 
ground  was  covered  with  buildings  ;  exten- 
sive vacant  spaces  existed,  doubtless,  inside 
the  walls — as  was  the  case  in  Babylon,  and 
as  is  the  case  in  most  Oriental  towns  at  this 
day — occupied  as  parks,  gardens,  and  pasture- 
grounds.  The  city  is  supposed  to  have  con- 
tained about  half  a  million  of  people.     Fertile 


20  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

provinces  lay  extended  on  all  sides  of  it,  which 
supplied  the  inhabitants  with  every  necessary 
and  luxury.  Such  was  Nineveh,  the  mistress 
of  the  early  East.  She  had  stood  from  almost 
the  period  of  the  flood,  and  her  power  was 
still  on  the  increase,  when  her  overthrow  and 
utter  desolation  were  foretold,  contrary  to  all 
human  probability,  by  the  prophets  of  Israel, 
and  in  particular  by  the  Prophet  Nahum. 

The  Prophecy  of  Nahum  is,  in  fact,  a  poem 
of  a  regular  form.  In  the  opening  of  it  Jeho- 
vah is  seen  approaching  to  execute  vengeance 
on  Nineveh ;  and  never  was  so  awful  an  event 
described  with  more  majestic  and  terrible  im- 
agery :  "  The  Lord  hath  his  way  in  the  whirl- 
wind and  in  the  storm,  and  the  clouds  are  the 
dust  of  his  feet.  The  mountains  quake  at 
him,  and  the  hills  melt,  and  the  earth  is  burnt 
at  his  presence ;  yea,  the  world  and  all  that 
dwell  therein.  Who  can  stand  before  his  in- 
dignation ?  and  who  can  abide  in  the  fierce- 
ness of  his  anger  ?  His  fury  is  poured  out 
like  fire,  and  the  rocks  are  thrown  down  by 
him."  The  hurry  and  jostle  of  the  prepara- 
tion for  the  defence  ;  the  rattle  of  the  chariot 
wheels,  the  clang  of  armor,  and  the  shouts 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     21 

and  cries  of  the  warriors,  as  they  hasten  to 
the  wall  to  repel  the  assault  of  the  besieg- 
ers— how  vividly  does  the  prophet  depict  it 
all :  "  The  shield  of  his  mighty  men  is  made 
red  ;  the  valiant  men  are  in  scarlet ;  the  char- 
iots shall  be  with  flaming  torches  in  the  day 
of  his  preparation,  and  the  fir-trees  shall  be 
terribly  shaken.  The  chariots  shall  rage  in 
the  streets  ;  they  shall  jostle  one  against  an- 
other in  the  broad  ways ;  they  shall  seem  like 
torches ;  they  shall  run  like  the  lightnings. 
He  shall  recount  his  worthies  ;  they  shall 
stumble  in  their  walk  ;  they  shall  make  haste 
to  the  wall."  But  in  vain  should  they  hasten 
to  the  wall — in  vain  should  the  warriors  of 
Nineveh  crowd  her  ramparts  ;  their  ready 
and  resolute  valor  should  not  avert  the  fate 
of  the  city.  Nineveh  was  to  be  assailed  by 
more  terrible  agents  of  destruction  than  the 
weapons  of  her  besiegers — an  overflowing 
flood — a  devouring  fire.  Such  are  the  ene- 
mies with  which  the  prophet  threatens  her ; 
and  against  such  enemies  how  little  could  the 
spear  or  shield  of  her  defenders  avail :  *'  With 
an  overrunning  flood  he  will  make  an  utter 
end  of  the  place  thereof;  the  fire  shall  devour 


22  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

thy  bars."  The  city  is  taken,  "  there  is  a 
multitude  of  slain,  and  a  great  number  of  car- 
casses," and  from  her  smoking  ruins  the  con- 
queror is  seen  leading  away  a  long  train  of 
captives  :  "  And  Huzzab  shall  be  led  away 
captive,  she  shall  be  brought  up,  and  her 
maids  shall  lead  her  as  with  the  voice  of 
doves,  tabering  upon  their  breasts."  We  are 
next  shown  the  empty  and  desolate  site  which 
the  city  once  occupied — the  utterly  darkened 
spot  once  irradiated  with  the  glory  of  Nine- 
veh :  "  She  is  empty,  and  void,  and  waste.  I 
will  cast  abominable  filth  upon  thee,  and  make 
thee  vile,  and  will  set  thee  as  a  gazing-stock. 
And  it  shall  come  to  pass  that  all  they  that 
look  upon  thee  shall  flee  from  thee,  and  say, 
Nineveh  is  laid  waste  ;  who  will  bemoan  her? 
whence  shall  I  seek  comforters  for  thee?" 
With  what  richness  and  splendor  of  imagery 
does  Nahum  mourn  the  departed  glory  of  the 
capital  of  Assyria  :  "  Thou  hast  multiplied  thy 
merchants  above  the  stars  of  heaven  ;  the  can- 
ker worm  spoileth  and  fleeth  away.  Thy 
crowned  are  as  the  locusts,  and  thy  captains 
as  the  great  grasshoppers,  which  camp  in  the 
hedges  in  the  cold  day ;  but  when  the  sun 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     23 

ariseth  they  flee  away,  and  the  place  is  not 
known  where  they  are."  And  how  noble  the 
requiem  sounded  over  the  graves  of  her  slain : 
"  Thy  shepherds  slumber,  O  king  of  Assyria  ; 
thy  nobles  shall  dwell  in  the  dust ;  thy  people 
is  scattered  upon  the  mountains,  and  no  man 
gathereth  them."  Like  a  magnificent  anthem 
ending  on  the  same  note  on  which  it  had  be- 
gun, the  prophet  closes  his  sublime  strains,  as 
he  had  commenced  them,  with  an  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  justice  of  God  in  overthrow- 
ing so  wicked  a  city  :  "  There  is  no  healing 
of  thy  bruise  ;  thy  wound  is  grievous  ;  all 
that  hear  the  bruit  of  thee  shall  clap  the  hands 
over  thee ;  for  upon  whom  hath  not  thy  wick- 
edness passed  continually?"  Homer  sang 
the  fall  of  Troy  after  Troy  had  fallen.  Na- 
hum,  with  equal  boldness  and  freedom  of  im- 
agery, and  with  a  much  loftier  moral  sublim- 
ity, sang  the  fall  of  Nineveh  while  Nineveh 
yet  stood. 

The  meagre  account  of  Assyrian  affairs 
which  ancient  historians  have  transmitted  to 
us,  render  us  unable  to  verify  the  Prophecy 
of  Nahum  in  some  of  its  minor  particulars. 
Herodotus  promised  to  narrate  the  manner  in 


24  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

which  Nineveh  was  taken,  but  this  history 
either  was  never  written,  or  is  now  lost.  Dio- 
dorus  Siculus  is  the  only  writer,  among  those 
whose  works  have  come  down  to  us,  who  has 
spoken  particularly  of  the  fall  of  this  city. 
From  him  we  learn  not  only  that  Nineveh 
was  taken,  but  taken  in  the  very  manner  that 
Nahum  foretold.  There  is  a  little  discrepancy 
among  those  who  have  spoken  of  the  closing 
scene  of  the  Assyrian  capital  as  to  the  names 
of  the  leading  persons  concerned  in  the  siege, 
and  the  date  of  some  of  the  transactions  ;  but 
there  is  no  discrepancy  among  them  as  re- 
gards the  leading  particulars  of  this  event,  in 
all  of  which  there  is  a  singular  coincidence 
between  them  and  the  prophet. 

Nineveh  was  besieged  by  the  joint  forces 
of  the  Medes  and  Babylonians.  Having  sat 
down  before  the  walls,  the  King  of  Nineveh, 
at  the  head  of  his  army,  came  forth  to  fight 
with  the  besiegers.  He  routed  them  in  three 
successive  battles.  Elated  with  his  success, 
and  hoping  speedily  to  drive  them  away,  the 
Assyrian  king  abandoned  himself  to  sloth,  and 
was  intent  only  on  preparing  a  feast  for  his 
army.     The  besiegers  were  informed  of  the 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     25 

intemperance  that  reigned  in  the  camp  ;  and 
falling  suddenly  on  the  Assyrian  host,  while 
in  a  helpless  condition  by  darkness  and  drunk- 
enness, they  committed  a  prodigious  slaughter 
upon  it.  Those  who  survived  were  glad  to 
escape  with  their  king  within  the  walls  of 
Nineveh:  "While  they  be  f olden  together  as 
thorns,  and  while  they  are  drunken  as  drunk- 
ards, they  shall  be  devoured  as  stubble  fully 
dry." 

Instead  of  trusting  to  the  strong  defences 
within  which  they  had  now  retired,  the  be- 
sieged, Diodorus  informs  us,  made  every 
preparation  for  their  defence  which  necessitv 
demanded  or  prudence  could  dictate :  "  The 
defence  shall  be  prepared.  Draw  thee  waters 
for  the  siege,  fortify  thy  strongholds :  go  into 
clay,  and  tread  the  mortar ;  make  strong  the 
brick-kiln."  But  the  prophet  who  had  fore- 
told that  these  active  measures  should  be  ta- 
ken, had  also  foretold  that  they  should  be  al- 
together unavailing.  The  hour  of  Nineveh 
was  come.  The  third  year  of  the  siege  was 
now  running.  In  this  year  heavy  rains  fell 
out ;  the  Tigris  was  much  swollen  ;  its  impet- 
uous current  undermined  the  walls,  and  the 
3 


26  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

defences  of  the  city  fell  for  the  space  of  twen- 
ty furlongs  :  '•  The  gates  of  the  rivers  shall  be 
opened."  The  king  had  trusted  hitherto  in  an 
ancient  oracle,  which  declared  that  Nineveh 
should  not  be  taken  till  the  river  had  become 
its  enemy — an  imperfect  version,  most  proba- 
bly, of  Nahum's  prophecy  which  the  king  had 
happened  to  hear — but  now  seeing  the  oracle 
fulfilled,  the  monarch  abandoned  himself  to 
despair,  and  collecting  together  his  wealth 
and  furniture,  he  erected  an  immense  funeral 
pile  in  his  palace,  and  having  placed  upon  it 
himself,  his  eunuchs,  and  his  wives,  he  fired  it 
with  his  own  hand,  and  the  whole  was  speed- 
ily consumed.  These  fires  accomplished  the 
prediction:  "  The  palace  shall  be  dissolved." 
Meanwhile  the  troops  of  the  besiegers  en- 
tered by  the  wide  breach  which  the  river  had 
made  in  the  walls — "  the  gates  of  thy  land 
shall  be  set  wide  open  unto  thine  enemies" — 
and  while  the  palace  was  blazing,  they  at- 
tacked and  put  to  the  sword  the  soldiers  and 
people  whom  they  found  in  the  city.  These,  be- 
ing already  panic-struck  by  the  terrors  of  the 
fire  and  flood,  offered  very  little  resistance : 
<4  The  sword  shall  cut  thee  off;  it  shall  eat  thee 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     27 

up  like  the  canker-worm."  Immense  quantities 
of  silver  and  gold  were  found  by  the  conquer- 
ors in  the  ashes  of  the  palace,  and  in  the  rub- 
bish of  the  city  :  "  Take  ye  the  spoil  of  silver ; 
take  the  spoil  of  gold."  The  sack  of  the  city 
was  now  over,  and  those  of  its  people  who 
survived  were  led  away  into  a  distant  cap- 
tivity. Thus  did  Nineveh  fall  as  the  prophet 
had  foretold.  It  was  very  unlikely,  indeed, 
that  a  city  that  had  existed  since  the  period 
of  the  flood,  and  which  reigned  over  the  cities 
of  the  earth,  should  be  so  speedily  and  com- 
pletely destroyed ;  it  was  very  unlikely  that 
the  three  agents  of  destruction  pointed  out  by 
the  prophet — the  sword,  the  fire,  and  the 
flood — should  combine  all  at  the  same  time  to 
lay  low  the  Assyrian  capital ;  yet  so  had  Na- 
hum  foretold,  and  so,  as  Diodorus  Siculus  re- 
lates, did  it  fall  out. 

It  is  now  a  long  time  since  the  events  we 
have  just  detailed.  It  cannot  be  less  than 
twenty-two  centuries.  During  this  period 
Nineveh  has  lain  in  ruins.  Many  a  city,  af- 
ter having  suffered  as  great  disasters  as  the 
capital  of  Assyria,  has  risen  again  with  new 
splendor;    but   Nahum   had   said   regarding 


28  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

Nineveh :  "  He  will  make  an  utter  end :  af- 
fliction shall  not  rise  up  the  second  time." 
Babylon,  though  doomed  to  fall,  was  yet  to 
fall  by  slow  degrees.  A  long  series  of  deg- 
radations was  to  separate  her  meridian  splen- 
dor from  her  last  and  total  obscuration.  But 
the  proud  mistress  of  the  Tigris  was  to  fall  at 
once  from  the  summit  of  her  dominion  and 
glory  into  the  grave  of  her  ruin.  Nineveh 
passed  away ;  and  from  that  day  to  this  she 
has  never  lifted  up  herself  to  grace  with  the 
image  of  her  glory  the  broad  bosom  of  the 
Tigris,  or  to  adorn  with  the  magnificence  of 
her  towers  and  battlements  the  rich  plains  of 
Assyria.  When  the  light  of  history  falls  on 
the  site  of  this  city,  which  it  sometimes  does 
in  the  course  of  centuries,  it  always  presents 
the  very  picture  which  the  prophets  drew  of 
what  it  should  become  while  Nineveh  was  yet 
"  a  rejoicing  city ;  dwelling  carelessly,  and 
saying  in  her  heart,  I  am,  and  there  is  none 
besides  me."  Lucian,  who  flourished  in  the 
second  century,  says,  that  no  vestige  of  Nin- 
eveh remained,  nor  could  the  spot  it  occupied 
be  easily  identified.  In  the  seventh  century 
its  vacant  site  was  the  scene  of  a  great  battle 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  29 

between  Rome  and  Persia.  Thevenot  visited 
it  in  the  very  dawn  of  modern  travel.  "  On 
the  other  side  of  the  river,"  says  he,  "  at  the 
end  of  the  bridge  [of  boats]  begins  the  place 
where  in  ancient  times  stood  the  famous  city 
of  Nineveh.  There  is  nothing  of  it  now  to 
to  be  seen,  but  some  hillocks."  And  such  to 
this  day  is  its  appearance.  The  space  once 
covered  by  the  palaces  and  gardens  of  the 
Assyrian  capital,  is  now  "  a  desolation,  and  dry 
like  a  wilderness"  There  is  some  uncertainty, 
however,  regarding  the  precise  spot  which 
this  city  occupied,  so  utterly  waste  and  deso- 
late has  its  site  been  made.  The  most  proba- 
ble place  is,  that  on  the  left  bank  of  the  Ti- 
gris, exactly  opposite  the  modern  town  of 
Mosul.     Let  us  visit  the  spot. 

Now  are  we  on  the  margin  of  the  swift- 
flowing  Tigris.  As  we  gaze  on  the  desolate 
waters  we  think  of  the  splendor  which  this 
stream  has  seen  flourish  and  fade  on  its  banks. 
Gone  are  now  the  frowning  battlements,  the 
lofty  towers,  and  the  imperial  palaces,  which 
in  other  days  graced  the  river ;  and  now  we 
behold  it  winding  its  way  amid  the  graves 
of  cities  and  empires.  Its  channel  is  as  full, 
3* 


30  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

its  floods  are  as  copious,  as  when  they  flowed 
to  refresh  the  palaces  of  the  Assyrian  princes  ; 
but  nothing  is  mirrored  now  on  its  placid 
wave  save  the  blue  vault,  or  the  grassy  hil- 
locks which  stud  its  banks,  or  the  mean 
dwellings  of  the  little  town  of  Mosul,  on  the 
farther  shore.  And  is  this  green  and  level  ex- 
panse, which  stretches  along  to  the  south  as 
far  as  the  eye  can  reach,  and  backwards  from 
the  river's  brink  to  the  eastern  hills,  which  is 
diversified  with  innumerable  swellings,  green, 
too,  like  the  plain  over  which  they  are  sprin- 
kled— is  this  the  grave  of  the  proud  capital 
of  Assyria  ?  Are  these  mounds  the  sepul- 
chres of  her  temples  and  palaces  ?  Yes  !  this 
grassy  line  was  once  a  lofty  rampart,  from 
which  the  warriors  of  Nineveh  looked  forth 
with  defiance  upon  their  foes.  How  are  their 
strongholds  fallen !  This  heap  of  rubbish, 
now  covered  with  turf,  was  once  a  shrine  of 
the  gods  of  Assyria.  How  are  their  altars 
laid  waste,  and  how  are  all  they  confounded 
who  trust  in  graven  images  !  How  low  now 
is  she  that  was  once  so  high  !  "  Where  is  the 
dwelling  of  the  lions,  and  the  feeding-place  of 
the  young  lions,  where  the  lion,  even  the  old 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  31 

lion,  walked,  and  the  lion's  whelp,  and  none 
made  them  afraid  V 

The  principal  remains  of  Nineveh,  which 
are  found  at  a  little  distance  from  the  bank  of 
the  Tigris,  are  comprised  in  an  oblong  inclo- 
sure  which  runs  parallel  with  the  river  for 
about  four  miles  by  two  in  breadth.  It  is 
marked  off  from  the  general  plain  of  the  city 
by  a  grassy  embankment.  Within  this  in- 
closure  are  two  mounds  of  ruins,  lying  a  little 
way  apart ;  the  one  fifty  feet,  and  the  other 
about  forty-three  feet  above  the  level  of  the 
city's  site.  On  digging  into  these  mounds, 
they  are  found  to  be  crossed  with  wall  of 
masonry  and  narrow  passages.  Mr.  Rich 
found  in  them  sun-dried  bricks,  and  pieces  of 
the  finest  kind  of  pottery  covered  with  cunei- 
form writing,  and  other  very  curious  antiques. 
The  discoveries  lately  made  by  M.  Botta  on 
the  site  of  Nineveh  are  very  interesting ;  but 
they  have  not  yet  been  particularly  described. 
There  is  little  doubt  that  this  oblong  space, 
with  its  two  central  mounds,  is  the  remains 
of  the  palace  of  the  Assyrian  kings.  The 
space,  which  is  about  eight  miles  square,  is 
not  too  large  to  preclude  such  an  idea.     In 


32  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

the  grassy  mound  that  forms  its  confine,  we 
behold  the  fallen  rampart  which  inclosed  the 
royal  buildings  and  gardens.  Let  us  ascend 
the  ruined  heap  into  which  the  monarch's 
palace  has  now  been  converted,  and  from  its 
summit  look  over  the  site  of  Nineveh.  Buck- 
ingham, who  surveyed  the  ground  from  the 
same  point,  thus  describes  the  prospect :  "  As 
far  as  I  could  perceive,  from  our  elevated 
point  of  view,  on  the  highest  summit  of  Tel 
Ninoa,  there  were  mounds  of  ruins,  similar  to 
those  near  us,  but  less  distinctly  marked,  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach  to  the  northward  ; 
and  the  plain  to  the  eastward  of  us,  or  be- 
tween the  river  and  the  mountains,  had  a 
mixture  of  large  brown  patches,  like  heaps 
of  rubbish,  seen  at  intervals,  scattered  over  a 
cultivated  soil."  And  the  same,  substantially, 
is  the  account  of  every  traveller  who  has  of 
late  visited  the  spot. 

Such  is  the  latter  end  of  that  city  which 
repented  in  sackcloth  and  ashes  at  the  preach- 
ing of  Jonah — which  Jehovah  at  that  time 
spared — but  which,  returning  to  her  former 
wickedness,  was  at  last  fearfully  overthrown. 
Yet,  as  if  the  Divine  indignation  against  Nin- 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     33 

eveh  had  begun  of  late  to  be  mitigated,  the 
aspect  of  her  ruins  is  now  of  a  less  gloomy 
character  than  that  which  belongs  to  the  re- 
mains of  some  other  large  cities.  The  scene 
is  almost  a  pleasant  and  pastoral  one.  The 
dust  of  Nineveh  sleeps  beneath  a  fresh  and 
beautiful  turf.  On  some  portions  of  the  plain 
the  plough  has  been  busy  for  ages ;  and  the 
ground  is  covered  with  crops  of  grain  and 
cotton,  which  the  niggard  soil  produces  only 
on  the  alternate  years.  The  rest  of  the  plain 
is  covered  with  green  sward,  dotted  here  and 
there  with  patches  of  tamarisk  bushes.  Here 
there  is  nothing  of  the  scathed  and  blasted 
look  which  the  Plain  of  Chaldea  presents,  nor 
are  there  here  those  gigantic  and  hoary 
mounds,  which  give  such  unspeakable  sublim- 
ity to  the  site  of  Babylon.  One  has  to  reflect 
on  the  long  line  of  monarchs  and  princes 
which  flourished  here — the  stately  palaces — 
the  delicious  gardens — the  multitude  of  men 
— the  wealth,  the  luxury,  the  wickedness  of 
which  this  plain  was  once  the  abode,  and  to 
contrast  it  with  its  utter  desertion  now,  and 
the  deep  and  perpetual  silence  that  reigns 
over  it,  before  he  can  feel  the  truly  sublime 


34  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

character  of  the  scene  on  which  he  is  gaz- 
ing. 

Still,  as  we  have  said,  there  is,  to  this  hour, 
some  doubt  regarding  the  site  of  Nineveh  ; 
which,  however,  it  is  probable  will  be  speed- 
ily dispelled  by  the  investigations  going  on 
there.  If  the  remains  we  have  deseribed  are 
the  ruins  of  Nineveh,  "  how  is  she  become  a 
desolation,  a  place  for  beasts  to  lie  down  in  /" 
If  these  are  not  the  ruins  of  Nineveh,  no 
man  knows  where  it  stood.  In  either  case, 
how  exact  has  been  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prophecy :  "  He  will  make  an  utter  end  of  the 
place  thereof." 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     35 


MESOPOTAMIA-BABYLON. 


Now  we  cross  the  Tigris,  and  enter  on 
the  patriarchal  region  of  Mesopotamia.  Our 
path  lies  south,  with  a  just  perceptible  inclina- 
tion to  the  east.  Behind  us  are  the  ruins  of 
one  great  city ;  before  us,  those  of  a  greater. 
The  tract  over  which  we  are  now  passing 
was  illustrated  in  other  days  by  the  footsteps 
of  the  "  mighty  hunter,"  Nimrod,  and  the 
tower  reaching  to  heaven,  which  the  sons  of 
men  attempted  to  build.  This  plain  was,  in 
early  times,  the  theatre  of  unrivalled  glory — 
the  scene  of  unexampled  wickedness ;  and 
now  it  lies  before  us  a  wide-spread  ruin.  It 
stretches  out  and  out  as  we  go,  with  scarce  a 
human  habitation  or  a  speck  of  green  on  its 
bosom,  and  with  so  few  landmarks,  that  the 
Arab,  in  traversing  it,  is  often  obliged,  like 
the  mariner  on  the  deep,  to  guide  himself  by 
the  stars.     The  heart  of  the  stoutest  traveller 


36  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

becomes  oppressed,  as  he  surveys  the  bound- 
less extent  of  dreary  and  dark  wilderness 
around  him,  diversified  only  by  tufts  of  reedy 
grass,  by  dwarf  acacia  bushes,  and  heaps  of 
ruins  which  swarm  with  reptiles  and  raven- 
ous animals.  At  every  step  we  meet  the  me- 
morials of  the  past — the  vestiges  of  the  cities, 
the  cultivation,  and  the  men  which  once  flour- 
ished here.  These  grassy  mounds,  which  in- 
tersect the  plain  in  long  straight  lines,  are  the 
remains  of  the  ancient  canals.  By  these  the 
waters  of  the  Euphrates  were  made  to  irri- 
gate the  country  ;  and  this,  together  with  its 
fat  alluvial  soil,  made  it,  in  past  ages,  the  gar- 
den of  the  East.  These  black  spots  which 
occur,  ever  and  anon,  and  where  the  soil  is 
evidently  unable  to  nourish  a  single  pile  of 
grass,  and  where  the  ground  looks  as  if  it 
had  been  scorched  by  fire,  are  the  sites  of 
ancient  cities.  We  meet  them  at  so  short 
distances,  and  the  desert,  right  and  left,  is  so 
thickly  dotted  with  them,  that  we  are  forced 
to  the  conclusion,  that  the  entire  plain  be- 
tween the  Tigris  and  Euphrates,  was  form- 
erly one  continuous  town.  As  we  go,  and 
still  the  dark  desolate  plain  spreads  out  before 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     37 

us,  and  still  the  monuments  of  ruin  lie  thick 
around  us ;  the  feeling  of  loneliness  with 
which  we  are  at  first  impressed,  rises  at  last 
into  awe  and  reverence,  at  the  power  and 
truth  of  Him  who  has  so  signally  punished, 
so  utterly  overthrown,  this  region.  "Our 
ride,"  says  Frazer,  who  was  now  traversing 
the  country  between  Seleucia  and  Babylon, 
"  so  long  as  daylight  lasted,  served  at  least 
to  convince  us  how  populous  the  land  must 
have  been  in  times  of  old  ;  for  scarcely  did 
we  traverse  a  mile  of  it  without  passing  over 
the  site  of  some  ancient  city,  or  town,  or  vil- 
lage. Sometimes  we  found  a  whole  tract 
covered  with  fragments  of  bricks,  pottery, 
and  glass ;  and  it  was  remarkable,  that  all  of 
these  sites  are  utterly  bare  of  vegetation  ;  so 
that,  even  independent  of  the  appearance  of 
debris,  we  could  tell  when  we  were  crossing 
one.  Mounds,  also,  of  the  same  substances 
were  numerous  ;  but  low,  and  altogether 
shapeless.  Sections  of  funeral  vases  and 
coffins,  which  we  observed  protruding  from 
them,  marked  them  as  receptacles  for  the  rel- 
ics of  the  dead.  We  likewise  crossed  a  num- 
ber of  old  canals — all  dry  and  useless  now ; 
4 


38  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

and  in  short,  no  one  who  has  had  any  expe- 
rience in  these  matters,  could  doubt,  from  the 
vestiges  so  thickly  spread  over  this  day's 
march,  that  either  some  immense  city  had 
once  flourished  here,  or,  what  is  more  prob- 
able, that  the  whole  country,  from  Seleucia 
to  Babylon,  had  once  been  covered  with  the 
abodes  of  men,  in  every  various  shape  and 
form  of  city,  town,  and  village." 

Now  we  draw  nigh  the  site  of  the  mighty 
Babylon.  Our  approach  to  this  renowned 
spot,  is  notified  to  us  by  the  signs  of  greater 
desolation  now  visible  around  us.  The  earth 
begins  to  wear  a  more  scathed  and  black- 
ened look  ;  the  heaps  of  ruin  are  more  nume- 
rous, and  dark-looking  and  shapeless  masses, 
which,  in  point  of  magnitude  and  height,  re- 
semble hills,  are  seen  rising  before  us  at  a 
great  distance  on  the  plain.  A  profound  si- 
lence reigns  throughout  the  region — not  the 
silence  of  repose,  but  of  awe  and  terror,  as  if 
nature  were  conscious  that  the  frown  of  the 
Almighty  still  rests  on  the  spot  where  his  in- 
dignation in  past  ages  was  poured  out  to  the 
uttermost.  We  begin  to  feel  the  spirit  of  the 
place — to  feel  as  if  we  had  entered  the  por- 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     39 

tals  of  some  vast  temple  consecrated  to  the 
vengeance  of  the  Holy  One,  and  where  no 
one  ever  stood  without  being  constrained  to 
worship — a  temple  whose  floor  is  the  blasted 
earth  on  which  we  are  treading  ;  whose  walls 
and  roof  are  the  heavens  over  us,  which  are 
as  brass  ;  whose  altars  are  the  hoary  mounds 
before  us  ;  and  whose  songs  are  the  cries  of 
the  doleful  creatures  by  whom  it  is  inhabited. 
Here  is  a  mass  of  ruin,  shapeless  and  tower- 
ing high  above  the  level  of  the  plain  ;  let  us 
ascend  and  rest  us  on  its  summit.  This  pile 
will  afford  us  a  prospect  of  the  ruins  of  Bab- 
ylon. Who  can  tell  what  this  mass  may  have 
been  once  ?  Perhaps  the  monarch  of  Baby- 
lon dwelt  here ;  or  it  may  be  that  the  gods 
of  Babylon  were  worshipped  here  ;  but  what- 
ever it  once  was,  it  is  now  a  heap  of  ruin. 
Now  we  are  on  its  summit.  Let  us  open  the 
Prophecy  of  Isaiah,  and  read.  A  Bible  on 
the  site  of  Babylon  !  Who  could  deny  its 
divinity  here  ?  But  before  comparing  what 
Babylon  now  is,  as  exemplified  in  the  scene 
around  us,  with  the  predictions  of  the  prophet, 
let  us  look  back  on  what  Babylon  once  was, 
as  described  in  the  page  both  of  inspired  and 


40  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE" 

profane  history.  Before  taking  a  survey  of 
the  ghastly  relics  around  us,  let  us  recall  the 
power  and  magnificence  that  once  flourished 
on  this  site. 

Between  Babylon  and  Nineveh  there  is  a 
close  resemblance  in  many  particulars.  Both 
were  founded  in  the  earliest  ages  of  the 
world  ;  both  gradually  rose  to  a  great  height 
of  power  and  grandeur,  though  Babylon  was 
some  centuries  later  than  Nineveh  in  reaching 
the  summit  of  her  glory  ;  both  practised  enor- 
mous oppression  on  the  surrounding  nations, 
especially  on  the  Jews ;  both  were  filled  with 
lewdness,  luxury,  and  idolatry ;  and  both  were 
doomed  by  Heaven  to  desolation. 

No  sooner  had  Nineveh  declined  from  the 
rank  she  long  held  as  queen  of  the  East,  than 
the  sovereignty  was  transferred  to  Babylon. 
The  city  was  the  equal  of  Nineveh  in  size, 
and  its  superior  in  wealth  and  splendor.  The 
descriptions  which  ancient  historians — Hero- 
dotus, Ctesias,  Strabo,  Diodorus — have  left  us 
are  so  clear  and  minute,  that  there  is  no  diffi- 
culty in  forming  a  just  idea  of  the  glory  of 
Babylon.  This  city  was  a  perfect  square  ; 
and  each  of  its  four  sides  being  fifteen  miles 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     41 

in  length,  the  space  included  was  sixty  miles 
in  circuit.  Its  broad  walls  were  the  wonder 
of  the  world  while  they  stood,  and  have  since 
often  been  the  theme  of  praise.  They  were 
a  hundred  feet  in  height,  according  to  the 
most  moderate  calculation.  They  were  de- 
fended outside  by  a  broad  ditch,  filled  with 
water  ;  were  protected  by  numerous  watch- 
towers  ;  and  contained  a  hundred  gates  of 
solid  brass.  Each  gate  opened  into  a  street 
which  ran  across,  straight  as  a  rule,  to  a  gate 
in  the  opposite  wall.  Thus  the  area  of  Bab- 
ylon was  occupied  by  fifty  streets,  which 
crossed  each  other  at  right  angles,  the  squares 
formed  by  their  intersections  being  covered 
with  gardens,  plantations  and  pasture-grounds. 
Through  the  middle  of  the  mighty  city  flowed 
the  noble  stream  of  the  Euphrates,  and  added 
much  to  the  freshness  and  beauty  of  the  capi- 
tal. Nigh  the  river  stood  the  royal  palaces, 
one  on  this  side,  and  the  other  on  that.  Both 
were  worthy  of  being  the  residence  of  the 
monarch  of  Babylon  ;  but  the  western  one 
was  of  surpassing  size  and  splendor,  and  its 
triple  rampart  was  of  prodigious  strength. 
Near  to  this  last,  and  extending  along  by  the 
4#      • 


42  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

river,  were  the  Hanging  Gardens  built  by- 
Nebuchadnezzar  for  the  delight  of  his  queen. 
They  were  supported  on  arches,  and  rose  tier 
above  tier,  till  they  resembled  natural  hills, 
formed  into  terraces,  and  planted  with  the 
choicest  fruits  and  the  most  precious  trees.  In 
the  middle  of  one  of  the  divisions — Diodorus 
says  the  eastern — of  the  city  rose  the  Tower 
of  Belus,  the  under  part  of  which  was  most 
probably  the  same  structure  which  the  sons 
of  Noah  erected  soon  after  the  flood.  Who- 
ever ascended  this  tower  saw  at  his  feet  the 
most  gorgeous  picture  which  the  wealth  and 
labor  of  man  ever  created.  There,  covering 
the  plain  in  all  directions  as  far  as  the  eye 
could  reach,  and  reposing  proudly  beneath 
the  beautiful  sky  of  Chaldea,  were  the  streets 
and  squares,  and  palaces  and  gardens,  and 
temples  and  bulwarks,  of  "  the  golden  city" 
— "  the  glory  of  kingdoms/'  Rennel  is  dis- 
posed to  think  that  Babylon,  at  its  height,  may 
have  contained  one  million  two  hundred  thou- 
sand inhabitants.  Within  the  city  were  pro- 
visions for  twenty  years ;  and  if  ever  there 
existed  on  the  earth  a  city  warranted  to  bid 
defiance  to  the  prediction  of  its  overthrow, 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     43 

Babylon  might  presume,  from  the  strength  of 
her  defences  and  the  number  of  her  defenders, 
that  she  was  entitled  to  do  so.  But  all  these 
availed  her  little  when  her  hour  had  come. 

A  hundred  and  sixty  years  before  an  enemy 
entered  her  gates,  the  doom  of  Babylon  was 
foretold  by  Isaiah.  The  style  of  this  prophet, 
sublime  at  all  times,  is  peculiarly  so  when  pre- 
dicting the  fate  of  this  city.  The  same  may 
be  said  of  Jeremiah,  who  also  foretold  the  de- 
solation of  Babylon.  Even  this  is  no  mean 
evidence  of  the  truth  of  their  predictions. 
The  impostor  never  attains  to  sublimity :  the 
consciousness  of  fraud  is  altogether  incom- 
patible with  that  expansion  of  the  moral  and 
intellectual  nature  which  gives  birth  to  sub- 
limity. The  would-be  prophet  is  perpetually 
haunted  by  the  dread  of  detection,  and  is  con- 
stantly seeking  to  hide  himself  in  vague  gen- 
eralities and  misty  ambiguities  ;  he  can  never 
irradiate  his  page  with  that  moral  splendor 
which  comes  only  from  truth.  How  different 
is  it  with  the  two  prophets  we  have  named  ! — 
how  free,  noble,  and  majestic  are  the  strains 
in  which  they  foretold,  long  before  she  fell, 
the  overthrow  of  that  greatest  and  proudest 


44  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

of  cities  !  The  noblest  images  and  metaphors 
come  at  their  call.  Her  fall  they  compare  to 
that  of  the  angels  from  heaven,  seeing  the 
history  of  nations  had  then  furnished  no  event 
which  could  adequately  represent  its  gran- 
deur and  terror :  "  How  art  thou  fallen  from 
heaven,  O  Lucifer,  son  of  the  morning  !"  The 
obscuration  of  her  glory  they  liken  to  the 
darkening  of  the  lights  of  the  firmament.  The 
earth,  which  had  groaned  beneath  her  weight, 
they  exhibit  as  rejoicing  at  her  overthrow. 
They  assemble  the  most  doleful  and  terrible 
emblems  around  her  grave ;  and  having  spread 
the  worm  under  her  power  and  glory,  her 
princes  and  nobles  ;  and  having  breathed  a 
lament  full  of  the  deepest  tenderness  and  pa- 
thos over  her  ruin,  they  retire,  bowing  reve- 
rently down  before  the  holiness  of  Him  who 
had  overthrown  her,  leaving  Babylon  to  the 
dragons  of  the  wilderness,  by  whom  she  was 
henceforth  to  be  inhabited.  It  is  only  a  small 
part  of  the  prophecy  we  can  here  quote. 

"  Babylon,  the  glory  of  kingdoms,  the  beauty 
of  the  Chaldees'  excellency,  shall  be  as  when 
God  overthrew  Sodom  and  Gomorrah.  It 
shall  never  be  inhabited,  neither  shall  it  be 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  45 

dwelt  in  from  generation  to  generation :  nei- 
ther shall  the  Arabian  pitch  tent  there  ;  neither 
shall  the  shepherds  make  their  fold  there. 
But  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  shall  lie  there  ; 
and  their  houses  shall  be  full  of  doleful  crea- 
tures ;  and  owls  shall  dwell  there,  and  satyrs 
shall  dance  there.  Thou  shalt  take  up  this 
proverb  against  the  king  of  Babylon,  and  say, 
How  hath  the  oppressor  ceased !  the  golden 
city  ceased ! " 

The  conqueror  of  Babylon  was  foretold  by- 
name ; — a  rare  circumstance  in  prophecy : 
"  Thus  saith  the  Lord  to  his  anointed,  to  Cy- 
rus." The  forces  he  was  to  lead  against  her 
were  also  named  :  "  Go  up,  O  Elam  ;  besiege, 
O  Media."  The  time  when  Babylon  was  to 
be  overthrown  was  also  fixed  :  liIt  shall  come 
to  pass,"  said  Jeremiah,  "  when  seventy  years 
are  accomplished,  that  I  will  punish  the  Jang 
of  Babylon  and  that  nation,  saith  the  Lord." 
This  prophecy  was  delivered  in  the  fourth 
year  of  Jehoiakim,  and  seventy  years  after 
that  date  the  united  hosts  of  Persia  and  Me- 
dia, under  Cyrus  as  their  leader,  appeared 
before  the  walls  of  Babylon.  Cyrus  soon 
became  aware  that  famine  would  be  his  most 


46  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

effective  weapon  of  assault ;  accordingly  he 
drew  a  trench  around  the  city,  fortified  with 
towers,  to  prevent  the  flight  of  the  inhabitants. 
The  prophet  had  said :  "  Let  none  thereof 
escape."  Weary  of  the  delay  which  this 
method  of  strategy  imposed,  Cyrus  employed 
every  art  to  draw  forth  the  men  of  Babylon 
and  join  battle  in  the  open  plain;  but,  as  the 
prophet  had  foretold,  this  they  declined: 
"  The  mighty  men  of  Babylon  have  foreborne 
to  fight,  they  have  remained  in  their  strong- 
holds, they  have  become  as  women."  Two 
years  had  now  been  spent  before  the  place, 
and  no  progress  whatever  made  in  the  siege. 
In  the  perplexity  occasioned  by  this  waste  of 
time,  it  was  suggested  that  the  course  of  the 
Euphrates,  which  flowed  through  the  city, 
should  be  turned,  and  thus  the  troops  would 
be  able,  in  the  dry  bed  of  the  river,  to  march 
into  the  city  under  the  walls.  This  was  pre- 
cisely what  the  prophet  had  foretold,  although 
unknown  to  Cyrus :  '•  That  saith  to  the  deep, 
Be  dry,  and  I  will  dry  up  thy  rivers.  A 
drought  is  upon  her  waters,  and  they  shall  be 
dried  up."  The  task  was  a  Herculean,  and 
almost  an  impossible  one  ;  for  the  river  was  a 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  47 

% 

quarter  of  a  mile  broad,  and  twelve  feet  deep : 
yet  no  sooner  was  the  proposal  made,  than 
Cyrus  resolved  on  attempting  it.  An  im- 
mense trench  was  dug,  and  all  was  now  ready 
for  turning  off  the  waters  of  the  Euphrates 
from  their  accustomed  channel  which  led  un- 
derneath the  walls  into  the  city.  All  was 
ready,  we  say,  but  Cyrus  knew  that  an  an- 
nual festival,  the  night  of  which  the  Babylo- 
nians were  accustomed  to  spend  in  revelry 
and  wine,  was  nigh,  and  he  fixed  on  this  night 
for  the  execution  of  his  project.  The  night 
came— the  revels  of  the  feast  began— the  in- 
habitants of  Babylon  were  speedily  drowned 
in  wine,  and  sleep,  and  darkness ;  the  waters 
of  the  Euphrates  were  turned  off— the  troops 
were  marched  along  the  dry  bed  of  the  river, 
and  without  a  blow  being  struck  to  oppose 
their  entrance,  they  passed  on  and  stood  with- 
in those  walls  which  all  their  strength  could 
never  have  battered  to  the  ground.  Thus  the 
city  at  last  fell  an  easy  prey  :  "  /  will  make 
their  feasts,"  said  Jehovah  by  his  prophet, 
"  and  I  will  make  them  drunken,  that  they 
may  rejoice  and  sleep  a  perpetual  sleep,  and 
not  wake,  saith  the  Lord.     I  will  bring  them 


48  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

down  like  lambs  to  the  slaughter.  I  will  make 
drunken  her  princes,  and  her  wise  men,  her 
captains,  and  her  rulers,  and  her  mighty  men, 
and  they  shall  sleep  a  perpetual  sleep." 

Can  any  one  compare  the  prophecy  with 
the  facts — and  to  the  facts  no  suspicion  can 
attach  ;  they  are  given  by  Herodotus  and 
Xenophon,  men  who  perhaps  never  saw  a 
copy  of  the  Old  Testament — and  doubt  the 
inspiration  of  the  prophet  ?  Though  any  one 
had  been  rash  enough  to  hazard  a  predic- 
tion that  this  great  city  would  be  destroyed, 
who  would  have  ventured  to  fix  the  year 
— to  name  the  conqueror  ? — who  could  have 
pointed  to  the  lands  from  which  the  invad- 
ing armies  should  come  ;  and  especially,  who 
could  have  hit  upon  the  singular  expedient 
by  which  the  city  was  taken — an  expedient 
which  did  not  occur  to  Cyrus  himself  till  after 
he  had  spent  two  years  before  the  place,  and 
tried  every  other  stratagem  in  vain  for  taking 
the  city  ?  Although  Cyrus  had  sat  down  im- 
mediately on  the  capture  of  the  city,  and  de- 
tailed the  manner  in  which  it  had  been  taken, 
he  could  not  have  given  the  particulars  more 
exactly ;  perhaps  not  so  fully,  and  certainly 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     49 

not  with  so  much  beauty  and  sublimity,  as 
they  were  given  a  century  and  a  half  before 
by  Isaiah. 

The  history  of  the  city,  from  the  time  when 
it  was  taken  by  Cyrus,  has  been  in  exact  ac- 
cordance with  the  prophecy  respecting  it. 
The  night  was  to  overtake  Babylon  not  all  at 
once — it  was  to  sink  down  by  slow  degrees. 
First  she  declined  from  the  rank  of  an  impe- 
rial to  that  of  a  subjugated  city :  "  Sit  in  the 
dust ;  there  is  no  throne,  O  daughter  of  the 
Chaldeans."  Next  came  Darius,  who,  pro- 
voked by  her  disposition  to  revolt,  greatly 
reduced  the  height  of  her  walls,  and  thus 
gave  a  presage  of  the  complete  fulfilment  of 
the  prophecy,  now  long  since  accomplished  : 
"  The  broad  walls  of  Babylon  shall  be  utterly 
broken."  The  desecration  of  her  shrines  and 
the  demolition  in  part  of  her  famous  temple 
by  Xerxes,  fulfilled  the  prediction :  "  /  will 
punish  Bel  in  Babylon."  Then  came  the  at- 
tempt to  heal  her  wound,  as  had  been  fore- 
told ;  which,  however,  could  not  be  healed. 
Alexander  conceived  the  design  of  making 
Babylon  the  metropolis  of  his  great  empire. 
Ten  thousand  workmen  were  already  em- 
5 


50  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

ployed  in  the  task  of  its  restoration,  when  the 
death  of  the  monarch  arrested  the  progress 
of  the  undertaking.  After  this,  the  rise  of 
Seleucia  on  the  Tigris,  which  led  to  the  trans- 
portation of  the  materials  of  Babylon  to  the 
new  site,  rapidly  accelerated  its  decline.  A 
Parthian  general  is  said,  about  a  century  be- 
fore Christ,  to  have  demolished  most  of  the 
fabrics  which  remained.  At  the  beginning 
of  the  Christian  era  it  was  mostly  deserted. 
In  the  fourth  century,  its  vast  area,  which  was 
still  inclosed  by  the  remains  of  its  walls,  was 
a  hunting  ground  of  wild  beasts.  Thus  did 
her  glories  wane,  as  prophecy  foretold ;  shade 
gathered  after  shade,  till  at  last  the  once 
mighty  Babylon  disappeared  altogether  from 
the  eyes  of  men ;  and  now  that  modern  dis- 
covery has  lifted  up  the  veil,  and  allowed  us 
to  survey  her  blackened  site  and  ghastly  re- 
mains, where  shall  we  find  words  to  describe 
the  scene  around  us  half  so  forcible  and  true 
as  employed  long  since  by  the  prophet :  Bab- 
ylon shall  become  heaps,  a  dwelling-place  for 
dragons.  Thy  pomp  is  brought  down  to  the 
grave,  and  the  noise  of  thy  viols :  the  worm 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     51 

is  spread  under  thee,  and  the  worms  cover 
thee." 

On  the  summit  of  this  ruined  heap,  the 
page  of  the  prophet  open  before  us,  and  the 
ruins  of  Babylon  around  us,  let  us  proceed  to 
compare  the  one  with  the  other.  What  fea- 
ture or  circumstance  of  Babylon's  desolation 
have  the  prophets  omitted?  Every  emblem 
of  terror  and  devastation  on  the  prophet's 
page  is  found  to  be  realized  on  the  gloomy 
plain  around  us.  In  the  most  minute  partic- 
ulars does  the  resemblance  hold  ;  so  that  a 
painter  who  had  never  trodden  the  blasted 
wilds  of  Chaldea,  and  never  climbed  the 
hoary  mounds  of  Babylon,  could,  simply,  by 
studying  the  prophet,  produce  a  most  impres- 
sive and  truthful  picture  of  Babylon's  ruin. 
Did  the  prophets  foretell  that  Chaldea  should 
be  "  a  dry  land  ?"  Look  over  that  plain.  It 
is  crossed,  you  perceive,  by  the  embankments 
of  its  former  canals,  but  these  canals  are  dry 
— the  waters  of  the  Euphrates  no  longer  irri- 
gate its  soil ;  it  is  a  sterile  expanse,  here  sown 
with  nitre,  there  blackened  by  the  crumbled 
remains  of  the  bituminous  materials  which 
composed  its  cities.     "  This  country  is  so  dry 


52  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

and  barren,"  says  Rauwolf,  "  that  it  cannot 
be  tilled."  Did  the  prophets  foretell  that  Bab- 
ylon should  become  "  pools  of  water  ?" — a 
prediction  apparently  inconsistent  with  the 
preceding.  Look  here  ;  the  Euprates  at  the 
period  of  flood,  overflows  its  banks,  and  forms 
lakes  here  and  there  amidst  the  ruins.  These 
pools,  Mignan  informs  us,  are  the  resort  of 
flocks  of  bitterns  :  "  I  will  also  make  it  a  pos- 
session for  the  bittern."  Was  it  foretold  that 
the  sower  should  be  cut  off  from  Babylon, 
and  him  that  handleth  the  sickle  in  the  time 
of  harvest? — a  most  improbable  prediction! 
Herodotus  testifies  that  this  plain  of  Babylon 
excelled  all  the  countries  he  had  visited,  as  a 
land  of  corn  ;  the  returns  being  two  hundred 
and  sometimes  three  hundred-fold ;  but  now 
no  attempt  at  cultivation  is,  or  could  be  made 
on  the  site  of  Babylon,  or  indeed  anywhere 
almost  on  the  plain.  The  ruins  of  Western 
Asia  abound  in  flocks  and  shepherds'  tents  ; 
but  in  this  particular  there  was  to  be  a  marked 
difference  between  Mesopotamia  and  other 
ruined  countries  :  "Neither  shall  the  Arabian 
pitch  tent  there;  rheither  shall  the  shepherds 
make  their  fold  there."     The  ruins  by  which 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  53 

the  country  is  overspread  contain  an  ingre- 
dient unfriendly  to  vegetation,  and  where 
there  is  no  pasture  there  will  be  no  resort  of 
flocks.  A  passing  caravan  may  at  times  be 
seen,  their  black  tents  may  dot  the  desert  for 
a  night,  and  the  tinkling  bell  of  the  browsing 
camel  agreeably  break  the  silence ;  but  here 
flocks  never  depasture  ;  and  especially  does 
the  Arab  avoid,  above  all  things,  pitching  his 
tent  near  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  or  near  any 
of  the  ruined  sites  in  its  neighborhood,  so 
great  is  his  horror  of  the  evil  spirits  by  whom 
he  believes  these  places  are  haunted.  "  The 
solitary  habitation  of  the  goatherd,"  says 
Mignan,  "  marks  not  the  forsaken  site."  In 
fine,  were  the  palaces  of  Babylon  to  become 
dens  of  venomous,  doleful,  and  ravenous  ani- 
mals ?  Such,  on  the  testimony  of  every 
traveller,  they  have  now  become.  Not  only 
is  it  true  of  Babylon,  but  of  all  the  ruins  on 
the  plain  of  Chaldea,  that  they  abound  in  cav- 
ities and  caverns,  which  are  the  receptacles 
of  owls,  bats,  lizards,  hyenas,  jackals ;  and 
occasionally  the  footprints  of  lions  have  been 
seen.  The  mouths  of  these  dens  are  strewed 
with  the  bones  and  other  relics  of  sheep, 
5* 


54  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

goats,  and  other  larger  animals.  Thus  do 
the  wild  beasts  of  the  desert  lie  there  ;  and 
their  houses  are  full  of  doleful  creatures  ;  and 
owls  dwell  there,  and  satyrs  dance  there. 

Before  taking  our  leave  of  Babylon,  let  us 
look  around,  and  survey  the  general  aspect 
of  her  ruins.  Here,  truly,  is  desolation  on  a 
great  scale.  No  one  can  adequately  realize 
the  grandeur  of  the  scene,  unless  he  has  been 
present  on  the  spot.  Whole  cities  have  been 
built  from  the  ruins  of  Babylon,  and  yet  the 
mounds  in  which  her  glory  is  entombed  look 
like  hills.  No  one  ever  stood  here  without 
having  his  mind  awed  and  subdued  by  the 
gloomy  scenery  of  the  region — so  vast  as  to 
be  sublime — so  desolate  as  to  be  appalling. 
Our  point  of  survey  is  on  one  of  the  central 
mounds,  which  adjoins  the  eastern  bank  of 
the  Euphrates.  The  plain  around  is  a  per- 
fect flat,  covered  far  and  near  with  heaps  of 
ruins.  These  are  of  all  shapes  and  sizes. 
Some  are  masses  of  undefined  form  ;  others 
run  on  in  long  lines  or  embankments  ;  some 
terminate  in  pinnacles  ;  others  are  rounded 
off.  But  we  miss  here  the  green  turf  which 
mantles  the  remains  of  Nineveh  ;  the  ruins 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     55 

of  Babylon  are  covered  with  the  black  bitu- 
minous debris  of  the  materials  which  com- 
pose them,  and  have  all  a  gloomy  aspect. 
Of  these  mounds  a  few,  in  different  quarters 
of  the  plain,  tower  majestically  above  the 
rest,  and  attract  the  eye  by  their  stupendous 
size.  It  is  on  one  of  these  that  we  have 
taken  up  our  position.  It  rises  seventy  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  plain,  and  its  huge  bulk 
stretches  along  for  upwards  of  eight  hundred 
yards.  It  is  a  rugged  mass  of  ruins  ;  its  sur- 
face covered  with  fragments*  of  bricks  and 
pottery;  its  sides  deeply  furrowed  by  the 
rain  ;  and  cleft  and  torn,  moreover,  by  the 
Arabs,  who  have  dug  into  its  bowels  in  search 
of  antiquities.  It  is  named  the  Kasr  or  Pal- 
ace. The  current  opinion  among  those  who 
have  visited  and  examined  it  is,  that  of  all 
the  mounds  on  the  site  of  Babylon,  this  has 
the  best  claim  to  be  regarded  as  the  ruins  of 
the  great  palace  of  the  Chaldean  monarchs. 
It  is  composed,  Mignan  tells  us,  of  the  finest 
furnace-dried  bricks,  all  inscribed  with  un- 
known characters  ;  and  so  firmly  do  they 
adhere  that  it  is  impossible  to  detach  a  single 
brick   from  the   mass.     We  may  state,  on 


56  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

Beauchamp's  authority,  that  alabaster  vessels 
and  engraved  marbles  have  been  found  in  it ; 
as  also  passages,  and  a  chamber  with  repre- 
sentations of  the  sun  and  moon,  and  other 
figures,  formed  of  varnished  bricks,  on  its 
walls.  How  solemn  the  thought  that  we  are 
walking  over  the  palace  of  the  king  of  Baby- 
lon, and  that  beneath  our  feet,  now  crushed 
and  buried,  is  the  festive  hall  where  the  im- 
pious Belshazzar  assembled  his  lords  and  con- 
cubines, and  where  the  fingers  of  a  man's 
hand  came  forth,  and  wrote  his  doom  upon 
the  wall ! 

From  two  to  three  hundred  yards  west  of 
the  fallen  pile  on  which  we  stand,  is  the  Eu- 
phrates. Mighty  changes  have  happened 
here  since  the  night  that  the  halls  beneath  us 
rung  with  the  revelry  of  the  king  and  his 
nobles  ;  but  that  stream  is  still  the  same — the 
same  as  when  it  bore  on  its  bosom  the  glo- 
rious image  of  the  "  golden  city" — the  same 
as  when  the  captive  Jews  sat  down  and  wept 
beside  its  waters.  Commencing  at  the  palace 
and  running  along  to  the  south,  by  the  brink 
of  the  river,  is  a  lofty  embankment — the  re- 
puted site  of  the  hanging  gardens  ;  all  un- 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     57 

decked  now  by  flower,  or  shrub,  or  tree. 
The  river  has  encroached  on  this  mound,  and 
its  face  slopes  abruptly  to  the  stream.  Along 
the  river's  edge,  covered  by  the  water,  and 
at  either  extremity  of  the  embankment,  slabs 
of  granite  are  found  of  the  exact  dimensions 
with  those  which  ancient  authors  tell  us  were 
employed  in  the  construction  of  these  gar- 
dens. At  the  top  of  the  bank  are  some  urns, 
which  have  been  laid  bare  by  the  action  of 
the  water,  and  which  contain  human  bones. 
May  not  some  part  of  these  gardens  have  been 
used  as  a  place  of  royal  sepulture  ?  From 
our  point  of  survey  two  rectilinear  mounds 
are  seen  traversing  the  plain.  They  form  a 
triangle,  having  the  river  for  their  base,  and 
their  apex  at  a  distance  of  upwards  of  two 
miles  on  the  plain  to  the  east.  They  inclose 
an  area  of  about  five  miles  square,  on  which 
are  the  ruins  we  have  just  described,  with 
others  of  less  note.  We  may  be  allowed  to 
conjecture  that  this  mound  forms  the  remains 
of  the  triple  rampart  by  which,  as  is  well 
known,  the  great  western  palace  and  hanging 
gardens  were  inclosed. 

There  is  one  feature  of  Babylon's  desola- 


58  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

tion  whice  meets  us  here  of  a  touching  kind. 
On  the  northern  front  of  the  Kasr  stands  a 
solitary  tree,  the  only  one  that  is  to  be  seen 
near  these  remains.  It  is  a  species  of  the 
tamarisk,  and  indubitably  of  great  antiquity. 
Its  trunk  is  strong  and  gnarled,  and  crowned 
with  a  tuft  of  thin  leaves.  These  bend  over 
the  ruins  gracefully,  yet  mournfully,  as  if 
they  bewailed  the  desolation  they  strive  most 
ineffectually  to  hide. 

Of  the  other  memorials  on  the  plain  before 
us,  the  most  distinguished  are  the  two  which 
we  now  proceed  to  notice.  On  the  north,  at 
the  distance  of  two  miles,  rises  an  enormous 
mass  of  ruin.  It  is  termed  by  the  Arabs 
Mujelibe — "  the  overturned."  It  is  one  hun- 
dred and  thirty-nine  feet  in  height ;  its  figure 
is  oblong,  and  its  four  sides  face  exactly  the 
cardinal  points.  Its  sides  are  deeply  fur- 
rowed, and  its  top  is  an  uneven  flat,  covered 
with  broken  bricks,  pottery,  bitumen,  and 
glass.  This  mound  is  composed  of  mud 
bricks,  baked  in  the  sun,  and  mixed  with 
straw.  They  are  cemented  with  clay-mor- 
tar, and  between  every  course  is  a  layer  of 
reeds.     Whatever    this    edifice    was    once, 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     59 

whether  the  abode  of  a  monarch,  or  the 
shrine  of  an  idol,  or  the  dungeon  of  the  cap- 
tive— and  all  these  several  uses  have  been 
found  for  it  by  some — it  is  now  a  den  of  wild 
beasts. 

Turn  we  now  to  the  south ;  here,  at  the 
distance  of  e:ght  miles  from  where  we  stand, 
towering  over  the  plain,  and  maintaining  a 
kind  of  majesty  even  in  its  overthrow,  is  by 
far  the  most  stupendous  and  imposing  of 
the  ruins  of  Babylon.  First  in  splendor,  we 
may  well  believe,  when  the  plain  around  was 
a  gay  spectacle  of  gardens  and  palaces — now 
it  is  first  in  ruin.  The  crowning  glory  of  the 
golden  city — now  it  is  the  most  awful  feature 
of  her  desolation.  The  grandest  of  her  piles 
— now  the  most  terrific  of  her  ruins.  Its 
golden  roof,  in  other  days,  was  the  first  to 
proclaim  to  the  traveller  that  he  was  ap- 
proaching the  metropolis  of  the  Chaldean 
Empire — now  its  dark,  and  torn,  and  ruin- 
stricken  top,  is  the  first  to  tell  him  that  he 
draws  nigh  the  scene  of  Babylon's  desola- 
tion. To  the  eminence  which  this  fallen  pile 
enjoys,  amid  the  innumerable  fabrics  which 
here  share  its  overthrow,  not  altogether  in- 


60  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

applicable  are  the  words  of  the  great  poet, 
descriptive  of  the  "  glory  obscured "  which 
shone  around  the  form  of  the  arch-apostate 
even  after  he  had  fallen,  and  the  distinction 
this  gave  him  amid  his  compeers  : — 

He,  above  the  rest 
In  shape  and  gesture  proudly  eminent, 
Stood  like  a  tow'r. 

If,  among  the  heaps  of  ruin  on  this  plain, 
there  be  any  representative  of  the  tower 
which  the  builders  erected  after  the  flood, 
and  which  subsequently  became  renowned 
as  the  Tower  of  Belus,  being  dedicated  by 
the  Babylonians  to  the  worship  of  their  god, 
Bel,  most  will  agree  that  this  mountain  has 
the  best  title  to  be  regarded  as  such :  and 
this  honor  has,  without  almost  a  dissenting 
voice,  been  conceded  to  it,  by  those  who 
have  visited  and  examined  it,  It  is  called  by 
the  natives  the  Birs  Nimrood  In  external 
aspect  it  does  not  differ  from  the  other 
mounds,  unless  in  its  greater  size.  Like 
them,  it  is  covered  with  black  debris ;  its 
sides,  like  theirs,  are  furrowed  deeply  by  the 
weather.     Mignan,  in  digging  into  its  base, 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  61 

found  it  to  be  composed  of  coarse  sun-dried 
bricks,  fastened  together  by  layers  of  mortar 
and  reed.  It  appears,  however,  to  have  had 
a  casing  of  fire-dried  bricks,  cemented  by 
bitumen  ;  and  ancient  historians  tell  us,  that 
of  such  materials  was  the  Temple  of  Belus 
constructed. 

There  is  a  surprising  agreement  between 
the  dimensions  of  this  enormous  mound  and 
those  of  the  Tower  of  Belus,  as  given  by 
Herodotus  and  others.  Its  elevation,  which 
is  nearly  two  hundred  feet,  is  much  below 
that  of  the  tower  ;  but  this  we  would  look 
for  in  a  fallen  pile.  The  area  of  its  base, 
however,  which  is  seven  hundred  and  sixty- 
two  yards,  is  almost  exactly  the  same  with 
that  of  the  tower,  only  a  little  larger,  the 
materials  having  spread  in  falling.  On  the 
summit  of  this  mound  rises  a  tower,  com- 
posed of  the  finest  kiln-burnt  bricks,  thirty- 
seven  feet  high.  Its  top  is  broken  and  cleft. 
The  other  parts  of  the  summit  of  the  mound 
are  covered  with  huge  masses  of  brick, 
tumbled  together,  and  completely  vitrified. 
These  masses  have  evidently  been  exposed 
to  the  action  of  the  fiercest  fire ;  and,  in  the 
6 


62  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

opinion  of  those  who  have  examined  the  site, 
that  fire  has  acted  from  above,  and  been, 
most  probably,  lightning — a  singular  corrob- 
oration, as  it  would  seem,  of  the  common 
tradition  that  the  Temple  of  Belus  was  de- 
stroyed by  fire  from  heaven.  At  all  events, 
it  is  impossible  to  survey  the  summit  of  this 
enormous  pile,  and  to  see  it  thus  scathed  by 
fire — whether  kindled  by  the  hand  of  man  or 
shot  against  it  from  heaven  it  is  now  impos- 
sible with  certainty  to  say — without  being 
reminded  of  Jeremiah's  prophecy :  "  /  will 
stretch  out  my  hand  upon  thee,  and  roll  thee 
down  from  the  rocks,  and  will  make  thee  a 
burnt  mountain" 

But  though  we  have  said,  Here  stood  the 
palace,  there  were  the  hanging  gardens,  and 
yonder  rose  the  Tower  of  Belus — we  are  to 
bear  in  mind,  that  all  this  is  to  a  great  de- 
gree conjectural.  The  appearance  of  the 
ruins  themselves  bear  out  our  conclusions  ; 
but  when  we  compare  the  position  assigned 
by  ancient  historians  to  the  fabrics  of  which 
we  have  supposed  the  heaps  in  question  to 
be  the  remains,  we  are  altogether  at  fault. 
The  difficulty  is  removed  only  in  part,  by 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     63 

supposing  that  the  Euphrates  had  changed 
its  course.  No  man  has  suceeded  in  deter- 
mining the  limits  which  the  city  occupied : 
no  trace  of  its  "  broad  walls "  have  been 
found.  The  precise  site  of  the  "mighty 
Babylon,"  will,  in  all  likelihood,  remain  for- 
ever unknown.  What  stronger  proof  can 
we  demand  that  God  has  swept  her  with  the 
"  besom  of  destruction  ?" 

What  a  spot  for  meditation  is  this  !  How 
solemn  the  lessons  taught  us  here,  did  our 
time  only  allow  of  our  pondering  them  at 
length !  This  plain,  once  so  rich  in  men  and 
in  cities,  and  in  all  earthly  felicities — how  de- 
serted is  it  now  !  This  site,  once  irradiated 
with  the  glories  of  Empire,  the  scene  where 
War  first  accumulated  her  spoils,  and  Super- 
stition first  erected  her  temples — how  dark- 
ened is  it !  This  is  the  end  of  ambition.  This 
is  the  punishment  that  awaits  pride.  Here 
sleeps  the  man  who  made  the  earth  to  trem- 
ble ;  and  gone  down  with  him  into  the  grave 
are  all  his  princes  and  his  mighty  men.  Here 
sleeps  the  warrior.  His  sword,  unused,  now 
rusts  by  his  side ;  and  the  trumpet's  peal  falls 
in  vain  upon  his  slumbering  ear — he  mingles 


64  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

in  the  battle  no  more.  Here  lies  the  astrolo- 
ger ;  and  in  vain  do  the  same  constellations 
which,  in  former  days,  gave  splendor  to  the 
midnight  sky  of  Chaldea,  still  shine  down 
upon  this  plain.  These  orbs  rise  and  set ;  but 
he  who  so  reverently  watched  them  of  old, 
comes  not  now  to  gaze  on  their  glory,  or  to 
read  what  their  motions  portend.  He  slum- 
bers here,  overtaken  by  a  more  terrible  doom 
than  the  worst  augury  of  his  horoscope  ever 
foreshadowed.  Silent  now  in  the  streets  of 
the  fallen  metropolis  are  the  sound  of  the 
chariot  wheel,  the  noise  of  the  viol,  and  the 
voice  of  the  bridegroom.  On  this  desolate 
site  Sorrow  weeps  not — Mirth  rejoices  not — 
both  are  alike  mute.  Here  is  the  festive  hall, 
mantled  by  the  dust  of  ruin — but  where  are 
the  revellers?  The  wine-cup  is  empty — the 
shouts  have  ceased — the  lights  are  darkened. 
And  here  too  is  the  temple,  majestic  even  in 
its  fall ;  but  no  priest,  no  worshipper  is  here, 
and  the  fire  on  its  altar  is  long  since  extin- 
guished. Buried  in  the  same  profound  repose, 
to  be  broken  only  by  the  trump  of  the  arch- 
angel, here  rest  side  by  side,  the  monarch  and 
his  subjects — the  conqueror  and  the  conquered 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     65 

— the  prisoner  and  the  man  who  opened  not 
the  house  of  his  prisoners.  The  dark  surface 
of  the  plain,  like  a  vast  funereal  pall,  covers 
all.  How  is  the  hammer  of  the  whole  earth 
cut  asunder  and  broken  !  How  hath  the  op- 
pressor ceased  ! — the  golden  city  ceased ! 


A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 


ARABIA-THE   ISHMAELITES. 


Now  we  shall  leave  the  land  of  Chaldea, 
with  all  the  glory  which  its  flowerless  turf 
covers,  and  turn  our  steps  into  the  desert. 
We  are  now  on  the  bosom  of  the  mighty  wil- 
derness, which  interposes  an  expanse  of  naked 
sands  eight  hundred  miles  in  breadth,  between 
Babylon  and  the  green  banks  of  the  Nile. 
Here  there  is  no  scenery  to  detain  us  by  its 
beauty,  and  no  ruins  to  divert  us  from  the 
straight  course.  The  country  contains  only 
one  monument  of  prophecy,  and  of  that  only 
shall  we  speak.     We  mean  its  people. 

Arabia,  which  we  are  now  traversing,  ex- 
tends from  the  Euphrates  on  the  east,  to  the 
shores  of  the  Red  Sea  on  the  west.  Its  south- 
ern boundary,  which  is  about  a  thousand  miles 
in  extent,  is  washed  by  the  waters  of  the  In- 
dian Ocean.  This  vast  peninsula  is  commonly 
divided  into  three  regions  :  Araby  the  Stony, 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     67 

which  adjoins  on  the  south  the  lands  of  Judea 
and  Moab,  and  consists,  as  its  name  imports, 
of  naked  mountains  and  plains,  covered  with 
flints.  Araby  the  Happy,  which  is  a  breadth 
of  hilly  territory,  extending  along  the  shores 
of  the  Red  Sea  and  the  Indian  Ocean,  its 
fertile  soil  covered  with  plantations,  pasture- 
grounds,  and  corn-fields.  It  is  rich  also  in 
various  gums  and  spices  ;  and  this  has  ob- 
taned  for  it  the  name  of  the  Land  of  Frank- 
incense. Araby  the  Sandy,  which  includes 
the  extensive  tract  which  stretches  from  the 
mountains  of  Edom  to  the  shores  of  the  Per- 
sian Gulf.  This  is  a  boundless  expanse  of 
sand,  without  shade  or  verdure,  broken  at  long 
intervals  by  a  solitary  fountain,  which  creates 
a  little  patch  of  green  in  the  midst  of  the  des- 
ert, and  nourishes  it  may  be  a  few  palm-trees, 
whose  shade  is  not  less  grateful  to  the  travel- 
ler in  these  burning  wastes  than  are  the  wa- 
ters which  flow  beside  them.  Such  is  the 
land  which,  from  the  days  of  their  progenitor, 
has  been  the  dwelling  of  the  Ishmaelites. 

Now,  as  we  pass  on,  we  shall  open  the  Vol- 
ume of  Prophecy,  and  test  the  truth  of  what 
is  foretold  in  it  concerning  the  venerable  peo- 


68  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

pie  among  whom  our  path  now  lies.  Here 
we  find  it  predicted  of  Ishmael :  1 1  will  make 
him  a  great  nation.  He  will  be  a  wild  man ; 
his  hand  will  be  against  every  man,  and  every 
man's  hand  against  him."  "  He  shall  dwell 
in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren."  It  is  ad- 
mitted that  the  prophecy  regards  not  so  much 
Ishmael,  as  the  posterity  of  Ishmael  ;  and  in 
them  are  we  to  look  for  its  accomplishment. 
It  is  now  four  thousand  years  since  the  pre- 
dictions we  have  just  quoted  were  given. 
Since  that  time  how  many  great  changes 
have  come  to  pass  !  The  world  has  been 
turned  upside  down.  Many  nations  not  then 
in  existence  have  come  into  being,  have  flour- 
ished and  gone  to  their  graves.  Violence  and 
War  have  gone  round  the  earth,  breaking  its 
kingdoms  in  pieces,  and  making  an  utter  end 
of  their  inhabitants.  Many  nations  we  now 
search  for  in  vain  ;  they  were  flourishing 
once,  but  their  place  now  is  nowhere  to  be 
found ;  and  as  we  pass  over  the  borders  of 
this  land,  we  tremble  lest  its  people  also  should 
have  passed  away.  The  once  rich  Plain  of 
Babylon,  from  which  we  have  just  come,  is 
now  a  desert,  without  an  inhabitant ;  and  af- 


* 

REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  69 

ter  that  can  we  expect  to  find  this  wilderness 
peopled  ?  The  warlike  nation  of  the  Chal- 
deans is  now  extinct ;  and  is  it  not  too  much 
to  hope  that  these  simple  children  of  the  des- 
ert shall  have  maintained  their  existence  ? 
Yet  so  did  the  word  of  the  Lord  foretell :  and 
his  word  cannot  fall  to  the  ground.  Here,  on 
the  bosom  of  the  same  sands  which  were  trod- 
den by  their  father  Ishmael,  are  the  black 
tents  of  the  roving  tribes  of  his  descendants. 
How  astonishing  is  this  !  Those  who  were 
once  the  masters  of  the  world  have  perished ; 
yet  the  Jshmaelites  are  still  numerous,  and 
powerful,  and  independent.  What  a  monu- 
ment are  they  of  the  truth  of  prophecy  ! 

"  I  will  make  .him  a  great  nation."— The 
descendants  of  Ishmael  speedily  became  nu- 
merous and  powerful.  They  were  not  the 
first,  it  is  true,  to  people  the  Arabian  peninsula 
— its  original  inhabitants  were  the  descend- 
ants of  Joktan,  the  son  of  Heber ;  but  Ish- 
mael having  settled  in  this  part  of  the  world, 
his  posterity  soon  became,  and  have  ever  since 
continued  to  be,  the  most  powerful  and  distin- 
guished branch  of  the  Arabian  nation.  Their 
importance  as  a  people  may  be  judged  of  from 


70  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

the  fact  that,  when  the  rest  of  the  nations  fell 
before  the  four  great  monarchies  as  they  suc- 
cessively arose,  the  Ishmaelites  alone  stood 
erect.  And  when  the  last  of  these  monar- 
chies had  fallen,  the  posterity  of  Ishmael  took 
their  turn  in  founding  an  empire,  which,  in 
point  of  greatness,  rivalled  that  of  Rome.  In 
little  more  than  a  hundred  years  did  this  re- 
markable people  carry  their  arms  and  their 
religion,  their  literature  and  their  science,  from 
the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  to  the  shores  of 
the  Atlantic — from  the  borders  of  India  to  the 
confines  of  France.  And  even  at  this  day, 
though  they  have  now  retired  within  their  na- 
tive deserts,  indelible  traces  of  their  former 
power  and  influence  are  found  on  many  of 
the  nations  of  Europe. 

"  He  will  be  a  wild  man." — There  is  no 
other  single  term  which  could  depict  the 
whole  character  of  the  Arab — "  a  wild  man." 
A  fact  so  notorious  as  this  stands  in  need  nei- 
ther of  illustration  nor  proof.  The  desert,  to 
this  day,  is  his  dwelling.  He  still  spurns 
the  restraints  of  society,  and  still  prefers  the 
sweets  of  a  roving  independence,  and  the  pre- 
carious supply  which  plunder  or  his  flocks 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     71 

may  yield,  to  the  order,  security,  and  plenty 
of  a  settled  mode  of  life.  Time  has  mellowed 
and  greatly  altered  the  character  of  other  na- 
tions— has  induced  on  them  a  gravity  and  so- 
briety ;  but  it  has  not  tamed  the  Ishmaelite  : 
his  temper  is  still  as  fiery,  his  habits  are  as 
lawless,  and  his  manners  as  patriarchal,  as 
they  were  four  thousand  years  ago.  There 
is  not  a  single  encampment  on  the  face  of  the 
desert  we  are  now  traversing,  the  interior  of 
which  does  not  exhibit,  at  this  day,  the  same 
domestic  scenes  which  are  so  beautifully  de- 
picted on  the  first  pages  of  the  Bible.  His 
hand  is  against  every  man,  and  every  man's 
hand  is  against  him.  Even  to  this  day  he  is 
not  reconciled  to  his  brethren  of  mankind. 
They  regard  him  as  an  outlaw  :  he  holds  them 
in  defiance.  Where  is  the  traveller  who  would 
venture  into  his  deserts  without  an  escort  ? 
where  is  the  people  with  whom  he  is  in  alli- 
ance ?  and  where  is  the  nation  who  has  not 
smarted  from  his  violence,  and  attempted,  but 
failed,  to  chastise  him  ? 

"  He  shall  dwell  in  the  presence  of  all  his 
brethren." — The  precise  import  of  this  part 
of  the  prophecy  is  somewhat  doubtful.    It  has 


72  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

commonly  been  understood  as  intimating  that 
the  Ishmaelitish  nation  should  never  be  con- 
quered. Granting  that  this  is  the  sense  of  the 
prediction — of  which,  however,  we  are  by  no 
means  certain — there  can  be  no  doubt  as  to 
its  fulfilment.  The  tide  of  Persian,  of  Mace- 
donian, of  Roman  conquest,  each  in  its  turn, 
approached  these  deserts,  but  was  rolled  back 
from  their  border.  All  attempts — and  many 
have  been  made — to  impose  upon  the  free 
necks  of  the  sons  of  Ishmael  the  yoke  of  for- 
eign dominion,  have  signally  failed.  Nothing 
can  be  more  explicit  on  this  head  than  the 
testimony  of  one  whom  all  will  acknowledge 
to  be  an  unexceptionable  witness  :  "The  body 
of  the  nation,"  says  Gibbon,  "  has  escaped  the 
yoke  of  the  most  powerful  monarchies  :  the 
arms  of  Sesostris  and  Cyrus,  of  Pompey  and 
Trajan,  could  never  achieve  the  conquest  of 
Arabia."  But  to  us  it  is  not  clear  that  the 
prophecy  refers  to  the  national  independence 
of  the  Ishmaelites  :  we  are  rather  disposed  to 
view  it — as  indeed  appears  to  be  most  agree- 
able to  the  obvious  meaning  of  its  terms — as 
intimating  that  the  inheritance  of  this  people 
should  immediately  adjoin,  or  lie  before  that 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     73 

of  their  brethren.  In  this  sense  Ishmael  him- 
self dwelt  in  the  presence  of  all  his  brethren; 
so  did  his  immediate  descendants  ;  and  so  do 
his  posterity  at  this  day.  Arabia  is  occupied 
by  two  races— the  descendants  of  Joktan,  and 
the  descendants  of  Ishmael.  These  tribes  are 
related  to  each  other,  being  sprung  from  the 
same  venerable  stock — Heber.  In  the  pres- 
ence of  the  Khatan  tribe,  their  brethren,  do 
the  Ishmaelites  still  dwell.  But  doubtless  the 
prophecy  implies,  if  it  does  not  bear  as  its  first 
meaning,  the  continued  national  existence  and 
independence  of  the  posterity  of  Ishmael.  At 
war  with  the  world,  they  have  yet  defied  all 
attempts  to  root  them  out  of  their  patrimony; 
and  now,  after  the  lapse  of  four  thousand  years, 
we  find  their  tents  on  the  same  deserts,  pitched 
in  the  presence  of  their  brethren. 

But  now  we  draw  nigh  the  border  of  Egypt, 
and  we  leave  the  wilderness  behind  us,  with 
its  black  tents  and  its  patriarchal  tribes.  Alas ! 
they  who  never  submitted  to  the  arms  of  the 
conqueror  have  long  borne  the  yoke  of  super- 
stition. Soon  may  that  yoke  be  broken  !  We 
have  seen  the  fulfilment  of  one  prophecy ; 
soon  may  we  behold  that  of  another :  "  They 
7 


74  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

that  dwell  in  the  wilderness  shall  bow  before 
Him.  The  multitude  of  camels  shall  cover 
thee,  the  dromedaries  of  Midian  and  Ephah ; 
all  they  from  Sheba  shall  come :  they  shall 
bring  gold  and  incense ;  and  they  shall  show 
forth  the  praises  of  the  Lord.  All  the  flocks 
of  Kedar  shall  be  gathered  together  unto  thee; 
the  rams  of  Nebaioth  shall  minister  unto  thee: 
they  shall  come  up  with  acceptance  on  mine 
altar,  and  I  will  glorify  the  house  of  my  glo- 
ry !"  Bidding  adieu,  then,  to  these  sands  and 
their  benighted  children,  on  whom  a  blessed 
day-spring  is  yet  to  shine,  we  go  forward  to 
the  banks  of  the  Nile — the  land  from  which 
God  brought  his  vine,  whose  boughs  are  yet 
to  fill  the  earth. 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  75 


EGYPT 


We  enter  Egypt  by  the  great  highway  of 
the  open  desert.  On  our  left  are  the  blue 
waters  of  the  Arabian  Gulf,  and  before  us  is 
a  flat  expanse  of  dreary  country.  We  pass 
hastily  over  it,  and  soon  the  Nile,  with  its 
stripe  of  verdure  on  either  bank,  rises  before 
us.  We  stand  beside  its  waters,  and  then  do 
we  feel  that  we  are  indeed  in  Egypt — in  that 
land  over  which  the  angel  spread  his  dark 
wings  when  the  first-born  were  destroyed. 
Solemn  remembrances  come  back  on  the 
mind.  The  miracles  of  Zoan's  field  revive 
before  us.  Ages  are  forgotten — and  we  seem 
to  be  moving  amid  the  men  and  the  scenes  of 
which,  in  ages  long  gone  past,  this  country 
was  the  stage. 

We  arrive,  perhaps,  a  little  after  noon.  The 
sky  is  exquisitely  clear,  and  suffused  with  a 
glow  of  rose-colored  light ;  a  gorgeous  sun- 


76  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

set  succeeds  ;  and  next  comes  a  brief  but  de- 
licious twilight — it  is  night.  The  vault  above 
us  is  bespangled  with  stars,  which  to  us  ap- 
pear unusually  large  and  brilliant.  The  moon 
comes  from  behind  the  Arabian  mountains  ; 
and  as  she  holds  her  course  through  the  se- 
rene firmament,  sheds  such  a  flood  of  rich  and 
soft  radiance  on  this  fallen  land  as  veils  its 
desolation.  The  bosom  of  the  Nile,  its  edg- 
ings of  deep  emerald,  the  groves  of  date  and 
palm-trees,  the  minarets  of  the  city,  the  col- 
umns and  walls  of  temples,  the  summits  of 
the  pyramids,  all  tinted  and  beautified  by  the 
moon's  resplendent  glory,  are  blended  into 
one  picture  of  soft  and  majestic  loveliness. 
We  imagine  for  the  moment,  that  Egypt  has 
come  down  to  us  as  she  existed  in  the  days 
of  the  Pharaohs.  But  soon  the  illusion  is  dis- 
pelled. The  day  comes ;  the  sun  emerges 
from  the  bosom  of  the  desert,  and,  under  his 
faithful  light,  Egypt  appears  as  it  is — a  gigan- 
tic and  awe-inspiring  picture  of  commingled 
grandeur  and  desolation,  fertility  and  barren- 
ness. The  Nile  is  seen  contending  with  the 
neighboring  desert  for  the  possession  of  his 
ancient  and  lovely  valley,  but  every  year  is 


I 
REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     77 


obliged  to  retreat  a  little  before  the  advancing 
sands  ;  the  fields  which  were  cultivated  by  the 
ancient  Egyptians  are  overwhelmed  by  the 
wilderness  ;  the  cities  lie  buried  beneath  a 
mass  of  rubbish  and  sand  ;  the  sepulchres  of 
the  dead  are  choked  up  ;  and  groves  of  bro- 
ken columns  and  roofless  walls,  covered  with 
paintings,  and  sculpture,  and  hieroglyphics, 
mark  the  site  of  the  temples  and  palaces. 

A  very  cursory  survey  of  the  monuments 
which  yet  remain  in  this  land,  is  sufficient  to 
convince  us  that  the  glowing  descriptions 
which  the  historians  of  antiquity  have  left  us 
of  the  power,  grandeur,  and  refinement  of  the 
ancient  Egyptians,  are  not  in  the  least  over- 
charged. If  not  the  country  in  which  the 
sciences  and  arts  were  invented,  there  can  be 
no  question  that  Egypt  is  the  land  where  they 
were  perfected,  and  where  first  they  flour- 
ished. Many  of  the  abstruser  sciences  were 
the  object  of  the  ardent  study  of  the  Egyp- 
tians ;  and  in  these  they  had  made  great  at- 
tainments. It  was  in  the  Egyptian  schools 
that  the  sages  of  other  countries  gleaned  their 
knowledge  of  mathematics,  astronomy,  and 
medicine.  Their  style  of  architecture  they 
7* 


78  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

carried  to  the  highest  excellence  of  which  it 
was  capable  ;  and  their  public  monuments 
were  erected  on  a  scale  of  size  and  magnifi- 
cence which  have  never  been  equalled.  The 
ruins  of  other  countries  may  rival  in  beauty, 
or  excel  in  justness  and  elegance  of  propor- 
tion, those  of  Egypt ;  but  none  make  the  least 
approach  to  them  in  their  stupendous  bulk  and 
solemn  grandeur.  And  as  regards  its  cities, 
it  may  be  doubted  whether  Babylon  itself 
greatly  exceeded  the  splendors  of  Thebes 
with  her  "  hundred  gates."  The  progress 
the  Egyptians  had  made  in  the  arts  which 
tend  to  embellish  life,  is  testified  at  this  day 
by  the  paintings  still  visible  in  the  "  Tombs  of 
the  Kings,"  which  are  distinguished  by  their 
spirit,  if  not  their  accuracy,  and  the  brilliancy 
of  their  coloring,  and  by  the  inimitable  grace 
and  beauty  which  they  have  given  to  some 
of  their  statues,  and  the  air  of  majesty  com- 
municated to  others.  In  the  useful  arts,  they 
appear  to  have  been  very  little,  if  at  all,  infe- 
rior to  ourselves.  Their  chambers  were  filled 
with  as  elegant  and  luxurious  furniture  as  our 
own  saloons  at  this  day ;  and  their  tables  tes- 
tified also  to  their  great  knowledge  of  the  cu- 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  79 

linary  art.  Moreover,  this  singular  people 
were  the  first  to  compose  what  we  cannot  but 
regard  as  great  literary  works.  They  had 
produced  volumes  of  history  before  Herodo- 
tus lived,  and  works  of  poetry  before  the  age 
of  Homer.  These  still  survive.  Where  ?  it 
may  be  asked,  in  astonishment.  Their  public 
monuments  were  inscribed  with  the  reigns  of 
their  kings — the  history  of  their  country  in 
symbolical  writing  ;  and  their  temples  were 
covered  with  the  most  lifelike  representations 
of  the  most  celebrated  exploits  of  some  of  the 
most  distinguished  of  their  princes.  The  one 
we  cannot  but  regard  as  a  volume  of  history, 
and  the  other  as  a  poem  ;  and  no  pages  are  so 
graphic  as  these,  and  none  can  be  more  dura- 
ble. Here,  on  the  walls  of  this  temple,  repre- 
sented in  sculpture,  are  the  more  brilliant  of 
the  warlike  achievements  of  Sesostris.  Here 
is  the  marshalling — the  march — the  fight — the 
agony  of  the  dying — the  triumph  of  the  re- 
turn— all  told  in  marble  with  a  truth,  and  fire, 
and  splendor,  worthy  of  the  great  father  of 
bards  himself.  In  fine,  nowhere  else  did  pow- 
er, and  science,  and  art,  accumulate  so  many 
trophies  within   the  same  space  ;   and  here, 


80  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

accordingly,  their  memorials  are  met  with  in 
a  profusion  which  overwhelms  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  traveller,  and  fatigues  the  powers 
of  the  narrator. 

Let  us  muse  an  hour  amid  the  solemn  splen- 
dors of  Luxor  and  Carnac.  But  we  must  not 
allow  the  magnificence  of  these  ruins  so  to 
engross  us  as  that  we  shall  forget  the  object  of 
our  visit.  What  evidence  have  we  here  of 
the  truth  of  prophecy?  Let  us  read  and 
compare. 

"  Son  of  man,  prophecy  and  say,  Thus  saith 
the  Lord  God,  Howl  ye,  Woe  worth  the  day  ! 
For  the  day  is  near,  a  cloudy  day ;  it  shall  be 
the  time  of  the  heathen.  And  the  sword  shall 
come  upon  Egypt,  and  great  pain  shall  be  in 
Ethiopia,  when  the  slain  shall  fall  in  Egypt, 
and  they  shall  take  away  her  multitude,  and 
her  foundation  shall  be  broken  down.  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God,  I  will  also  destroy  the 
idols,  and  I  will  cause  their  images  to  cease 
out  of  Noph ;  and  there  shall  be  no  more  a 
prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt :  and  I  will  put  a 
fear  in  the  land  of  Egypt.  And  I  will  make 
Pathros  desolate,  and  I  will  set  fire  in  Zoan, 
and  will  execute  judgments  in  No.      And  I 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     81 

will  pour  my  fury  upon  Sin,  the  strength  of 
Egypt ;  and  I  will  cut  off  the  multitude  of 
No.  And  I  will  set  fire  in  Egypt :  Sin  shall 
have  great  pain,  and  No  shall  be  rent  asunder, 
and  Noph  shall  have  distresses  daily.  The 
young  men  of  Aven,  and  of  Phi-beseth  shall 
fall  by  the  sword :  and  these  cities  shall  go 
into  captivity.  At  Tehaphnehes  also  the  day 
shall  be  darkened,  when  I  shall  break  there 
the  yokes  of  Egypt ;  and  the  pomp  of  her 
strength  shall  cease  in  her :  as  for  her,  a  cloud 
shall  cover  her,  and  her  daughters  shall  go 
into  captivity.  Thus  will  I  execute  judgment 
in  Egypt ;  and  they  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord." 

The  ruins  amid  which  we  are  at  present 
seated  are  those  of  Thebes — the  No  of  xhe 
Scriptures,  and  the  earliest  capital  of  Egypt. 
Its  origin  is  lost  in  the  obscurity  of  ages. 
Memphis  superseded  it  as  the  metropolis  of 
the  country,  though  it  never  rivalled  it  in 
splendor ;  and  even  of  Memphis,  the  founda- 
tions were  laid  at  a  period  prior  to  the  dawn 
of  authentic  history.  So  great  is  the  magni- 
cence  of  these  ruins,  that  every  one  who  has 
seen  them  declares  that  language  is  utterly 


82  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

unable  to  convey  any  adequate  idea  of  them. 
The  ground  here  is  covered  with  groves  of 
columns  of  a  colossal  size,  sphinxes  by  hun- 
dreds, fragments  of  statues,  obelisks,  gateways, 
porticoes,  and  halls.  Here  are  the  remains  of 
four  large  temples  ;  one  of  these — the  Temple 
of  Carnac — appears  to  have  excelled  all  the 
others  in  point  of  magnitude  and  splendor. 
This  temple  is  universally  pronounced  to  be 
the  greatest  ever  made  by  hands.  Noble 
avenues,  miles  in  length,  and  guarded  on  both 
sides  by  a  row  of  sphinxes,  lead  up  to  it  from 
almost  every  point  of  the  compass.  Trav- 
ersing this  approach,  we  come  to  the  grand 
entrance,  which  is  formed  by  two  pyramidal 
moles  which  ascend  to  a  height  of  upwards 
of  "a  hundred  feet.  Some  of  these  moles,  (for 
the  edifice  has  twelve  principal  entrances)  are 
constructed  of  granite,  and  richly  covered 
with  beautiful  hieroglyphics  and  sculpture. 
Passing  through  the  colossal  gateway  we  find 
ourselves  in  a  spacious  court,  once  adorned 
with  hundreds  of  columns,  which  are  now 
fallen.  All  round  this  court,  runs  a  pillared 
portico.  In  the  interior,  is  the  main  sanctu- 
ary.    It  is  an  immense  hall,  an  hundred  and 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     83 

seventy  feet  by  three  hundred  and  twenty- 
nine.  Its  roof  is  composed  of  large  blocks 
of  granite  laid  across.  It  is  adorned  with 
clusters  of  stars,  on  a  green  ground.  The 
walls  are  covered  with  painted  sculpture  of 
a  kind  suited  to  the  mysterious  purposes  to 
which  this  chamber  was  devoted.  A  hun- 
dred and  thirty-four  columns  support  the  roof. 
Every  column  is  sculptured  and  painted.  The 
exterior  walls  exhibit,  in  sculpture,  the  wars  of 
Rameses.  Around  this  inner  fane  rise  many 
inferior  temples.  Anywhere  else  these  would 
be  accounted  magnificent  structures :  but  here 
they  are  overshadowed  by  the  enormous  bulk 
of  the  principal  temple.  The  field  of  ruins 
formed  by  this  single  temple,  is  about  a  mile 
in  diameter.  The  other  three  temples,  whose 
remains  adjoin  those  of  Carnac,  appear  to  have 
been  of  extraordinary  dimensions,  though  in- 
ferior to  the  one  we  have  just  described.  All 
agree  that  they  must  be  seen,  before  their 
magnitude  can  be  conceived  of,  or  even  cred- 
ited. It  may  help  to  convey  to  the  mind 
some  idea  of  their  size,  to  state  that  an  Arab 
village  is  built  on  the  roof  of  one  of  them — 
the  temple  at  Edfou. 


84  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

Egypt  was  a  land  of  idols  ;  but  this  appears 
to  have  been  the  high  place  of  her  idolatry. 
How  is  the  prophecy  now  accomplished  upon 
this  land:  "Behold  the  Lord  rideth  upon  a 
swift  cloud,  and  shall  come  into  Egypt ;  and 
the  idols  of  Egypt  shall  be  moved  at  his  pres- 
ence /"  "  /  will  also  destroy  the  idols,  and  I 
will  cause  their  images  to  cease!' 

Thebes — populous  No — was  watered  by  the 
Nile,  something  in  the  manner  that  Babylon 
was  by  the  Euphrates-,  accordingly,  the  ruins 
of  the  city  are  seen  on  the  west  of  the  river, 
as  well  as  here  on  the  east.  Let  us  pass  over 
the  stream  and  spend  a  few  moments  in  sur- 
veying them.  Here,  too,  are  the  remains  of 
temples.  Here  is  the  famous  statue  of  Mem- 
non,  which  is  said  to  have  emitted,  at  sun- 
rise, melodious  sounds,  which  from  a  low 
and  scarcely  perceptible  murmur,  grew  by 
degrees  into  the  loud  and  clear  tones  of 
the  trumpet.  Here  are  colossal  statues  and 
sphinxes  innumerable,  half-buried  in  the  soil, 
which  ages  have  accumulated  around  them. 
These  have  beheld  generations  rise  and  fade 
on  the  plains  of  Egypt ;  they  have  seen  dy- 
nasties sink  at  their  feet ;  on  them  the  day  of 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     85 

glory  has  shone,  and  now  the  night  of  ruin 
darkens  around  them  ;  still  they  wait  here,  to 
welcome,  with  the  same  look  of  austere  maj- 
esty, the  stranger  who  comes  from  a  far  land 
to  gaze  on  them  ;  and  here  they  will  remain, 
no  doubt,  till  the  end  of  time,  shedding  a  dim 
glory  on  these  plains — the  twilight  of  a  day  of 
splendor  which  has  passed  away,  never  more 
to  return.  Here,  too,  separated  from  the  ruins 
of  the  city  by  a  range  of  naked  hills,  in  a  low, 
winding,  gloomy  valley,  shut  in  by  iron  rocks, 
are  the  "  Tombs  of  the  Kings."  They  are 
gorgeous  halls,  hewn  in  the  heart  of  the  moun- 
tain, richly  adorned  with  painting  and  sculp- 
ture, and  in  point  of  size  and  brilliancy,  rival- 
ing the  halls  of  living  monarchs.  In  this, 
the  ''house  of  his  glory,"  lie  Pharaoh  and  his 
princes. 

Retracing  our  steps  over  the  hills,  and  re- 
turning again  to  the  ruins  of  the  city,  one 
other  edifice  only  shall  we  direct  particular 
attention  to — the  Memonnium,  or  Palace  of 
Sesostris.  This  is  the  temple  we  have  al- 
ready alluded  to  as  exhibiting  on  its  walls  the 
battle-scenes  of  this  great  king.  The  portals 
stand  wide  open  ;  the  royal  guards  are  gone  : 
8 


86  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

and  we  may  pass  on  without  challenge  into 
the  very  presence-chamber  of  the  monarch. 
But  though  living  guards  there  are  none,  we 
pass  between  gigantic  statues,  which  line  the 
entrance,  with  folded  arms,  and  a  serene  and 
tranquil  look.  We  enter  the  halls  of  the  mon- 
arch, and  beauty  and  mystery  beam  upon  us 
from  walls  and  roof.  Both  are  blazoned  with 
symbolical  representations — the  signs  of  the 
zodiac,  globes,  stars,  and  other  celestial  repre- 
sentations. On  the  northern  wall  is  a  repre- 
sentation of  Sesostris  himself.  He  is  over- 
shadowed by  the  boughs  of  the  tree  of  life, 
and  the  deities  are  seen  writing  his  name  upon 
its  leaves. 

Not  only  have  the  Egyptians,  by  the  dura- 
ble materials  which  they  used  in  building,  and 
the  scale  on  which  their  public  edifices  were 
constructed,  transmitted  their  temples  to  us, 
their  very  bodies  themselves  have  come  down 
to  our  day.  The  art  of  embalming,  as  is  well 
known,  was  universally  practised  amongst 
them;  and  the  consequence  is,  that  we  may 
see,  at  this  day,  the  forms  and  features  of  the 
very  men  by  whom  these  mighty  fabrics  were 
erected — men  who  lived  four  thousand  vears 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     87 

ago — the  kings,  the  warriors,  the  sages,  and 
the  citizens  of  Egypt.  After  a  slumber  of 
many  ages,  their  remains  are  as  perfect  as 
when  they  were  newly  laid  in  what  were  de- 
signed to  be  their  last  resting-places.  But, 
alas !  their  bodies  have  been  preserved  only 
to  be  desecrated.  Their  tombs  have  been 
violated,  and  now  their  bones  literally  "lie 
scattered  about  the  grave's  mouth  ;"  while  by 
some,  the  mummies  have  been  carried  into 
lands  far  distant,  and  which,  when  these  men 
lived,  and  for  ages  after,  were  altogether  un- 
known. But  the  many  attractions  on  this  part 
of  our  journey,  make  us  forget  the  resolution 
we  made  at  starting.     We  return. 

The  common  dwellings  of  Thebes,  formed 
probably  of  brick,  have  utterly  perished  ages 
ago.  They  have  left  not  a  vestige,  unless  the 
mounds  of  earth  around  us  can  be  regarded 
as  such— a  distinction  to  which  we  think  they 
may  lay  claim.  On  these  mounds,  and  espe- 
cially adjoining  the  walls  of  the  temples — 
looking  all  the  meaner  from  their  close  prox- 
imity to  the  memorials  of  such  unrivalled 
magnificence — are  the  mud  huts  of  the  few 
poor  and  miserable  Arabs  who  inhabit  the  site, 


88  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

and  who  live  mainly  by  digging  into  mum- 
my pits,  and  selling  the  antiquities  they  dis- 
cover to  strangers.  To  such  a  base  end  has 
the  mighty  Thebes — "populous  No" — come: 
"/  will  execute  judgments  in  No."  "I  will 
cut  off  the  multitude  of  No."  "  No  shall  be 
rent  asunder.^ 

We  cannot  visit  all  the  places  referred  to 
in  the  prophecy  we  have  quoted — all  of  which 
are  now  destroyed — but  there  is  one  other 
celebrated  site  which  we  must  visit — Mem- 
phis, the  Noph  of  Scripture,  and  the  scene  of 
Joseph's  glory. 

We  embark  on  the  Nile.  The  noble  river, 
advancing  with  a  slow  and  majestic  pace  to- 
wards the  ocean,  carries  us  on  its  bosom. 
The  papyrus — celebrated  plant — still  fringes 
the  stream ;  the  broad  leaf  of  the  lotus,  so 
inseparably  connected  with  all  the  architec- 
ture of  this  land,  swims  on  the  surface — its 
large,  lovely  white  blossom  finely  contrasted 
with  the  dark  waters  of  the  river.  As  the 
current  bears  us  along,  we  pass,  at  intervals, 
mud  villages,  inhabited  by  Arabs  ;  groves  of 
dates ;  and  not  unfrequently  a  sycamore, 
whose  deep  shadow  is  welcome  indeed  under 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     89 

the  burning  sun  of  Egypt.  We  perceive  also 
crops  of  cotton,  and  fields  of  Indian  corn,  with 
little  canals  running  off  to  irrigate  the  sur- 
face; for  here  the  husbandman  still  waters 
the  ground  with  his  foot.  One  thing  strikes 
us,  and  that  is  the  deep  rich  verdure  of  the 
great  valley  through  which  the  Nile  flows — 
made  lovelier,  doubtless,  by  the  naked  sands 
on  either  side  of  it.  But,  lo !  the  pyramids 
rise  before  us — those  mountains  of  stone  which 
have  excited  the  astonishment  and  wonder  of 
all  ages.  They  rise  before  us  veiled  in  the 
same  mystery  as  ever — from  their  sides  the 
clouds  seem  destined  never  to  break  up. 
Here,  adjoining  the  pyramids,  flourished  Mem- 
phis— Noph — which,  after  Thebes,  became  the 
capital  of  Egypt.  Let  us  ascend  one  of  the 
pyramids,  and  from  its  summit  look  over  the 
site  of  the  former  metropolis.  The  ascent  is 
toilsome  enough;  but  the  summit  once  gained, 
we  look  far  and  wide  over  the  surrounding  re- 
gion. On  the  one  side  is  the  desert,  arranged  in 
vast  steppes  or  waves,  and  stretching  away 
into  Lybia  ;  on  the  other  is  the  Valley  of  the 
Nile ;  itself  a  river  of  verdure,  as  Lindsay 
terms  it,  flowing  through  a  vast  wilderness. 
8* 


90  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

Immediately  beneath  us  is  the  space  once  oc- 
cupied by  Memphis.  Here  were  spread  forth 
the  dwellings,  the  palaces,  the  temples  of 
Noph,  interspersed  with  the  groves  where 
her  sages  taught ;  here  was  the  prison  where 
Joseph  languished,  the  hall  where  he  inter- 
preted the  monarch's  dream,  and  the  streets 
through  which  he  rode  in  triumph,  while  they 
cried  before  him,  "  Bow  the  knee  !"  Bat  what 
remains  are  there  here  now  of  the  great  me- 
tropolis that  once  occupied  this  site  ?  Thebes, 
though  desolate,  can  still  boast  the  imperisha- 
ble remains  of  her  stupendous  temples ;  but 
here  there  is  nothing  but  bare  sands.  Scarce 
even  does  a  broken  column  remain  to  tell  that 
here  stood  Memphis :  "  Noph  shall  be  waste, 
and  desolate  without  an  inhabitant." 

Pharaoh  was  "  the  son  of  ancient  kings  ;" 
but  it  was  foretold  that  his  sceptre  should  pass 
into  the  hands  of  strangers.  The  Babylo- 
nians, the  Persians,  the  Greeks,  the  Romans, 
the  Saracens,  each  in  their  turn  have  invaded, 
conquered,  and  governed  this  land.  It  is  now 
more  than  two  thousand  years  since  Egypt 
was  ruled  by  a  native  prince :  "  There  shall 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     91 

be  no  more  a  prince  of  the  land  of  Egypt" 
"  The  sceptre  of  Egypt  shall  depart  away" 

In  the  seventh  century  the  Saracens  took 
possession  of  Egypt.  This  people  have,  in 
every  age,  shown  themselves  more  fit  to  con- 
quer than  to  govern.  Their  rule  oppressed 
the  inhabitants  and  impoverished.the  country. 
To  aid  them  in  the  task  of  governing,  or 
rather  occupying  Egypt,  they  imported  a 
multitude  of  slaves  from  Circassia— the  Mam- 
elukes— trained  them  in  military  tactics,  and 
formed  them  into  bands,  for  the  purpose  of 
keeping  the  natives  in  subjection.  These  sol- 
diers soon  found  out  their  importance ;  and, 
rebelling  against  their  masters,  usurped  the 
government.  This  happened  in  the  thirteenth 
century ;  and,  during  the  three  hundred  years 
following,  Egypt  was  governed  by  this  race 
of  strangers  and  slaves.  The  country  was 
next  taken  possession  of  by  the  Turks — stran- 
gers, too,  like  those  who  preceded  them.  The 
sultan  governs  Egypt  by  means  of  a  pacha. 
The  person  selected  for  this  office  is  always  one 
who  has  made  his  first  appearance  in  Egypt 
either  as  an  adventurer  or  a  slave.  The  pres- 
ent pacha,  Mehemet  Ali,  was  a  native  of  Ico- 


92  A*JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

nium,  in  Asia  Minor.  He  was  a  tobacco  mer- 
chant in  his  youth;  and,  having  been  sent  into 
Egypt  by  the  governor  of  his  native  town,  to 
assist  his  son,  who  was  captain  of  a  small 
troop  which  he  had  raised  for  the  service  of 
the  sultan,  Mehemet  raised  himself  by  his  ser- 
vices to  the  distinguished  post  he  presently 
holds.  Thus  has  the  throne  of  the  Pharaohs, 
if  such  it  can  be  called,  been  occupied  for 
centuries  by  strangers  and  slaves.  The  end 
these  rulers  have  steadily  kept  in  view  has 
been  precisely  what  might  have  been  expect- 
ed— to  get  rich,  and  that  by  the  most  direct 
means ;  and  these  they  have  found  to  be  ex- 
tortion and  oppression.  The  capabilities  of 
the  country  are  to  a  great  degree  destroyed  ; 
agriculture  languishes  ;  the  arts  and  sciences 
are  extinct ;  and  the  land  is  now  empty  as  the 
prophecy  foretold,  of  all  whereof  it  was  once 
full — a  night  of  sevenfold  ignorance  and  bar- 
barism has  overtaken  it :  "I  will  sell  the  land 
into  the  hand  of  the  ivicked ;  and  I  will  make 
the  land  waste,  and  all  that  is  therein,  by  the 
hand  of  strangers." 

This  illustrious  land  is  now  the  basest  of 
kingdoms.      In   Egypt,  there  are  only  two 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     93 

classes — the  conquerors  and  the  vanquished. 
The  former  indulge  in  every  crime  which  can 
disgrace  the  character  of  rulers — selfishness, 
rapacity,  injustice.  The  latter  are  sunk  into 
the  most  deplorable  condition.  Brutalized  by 
the  wars  and  revolutions  which  have  for  cen- 
turies surrounded  them,  exasperated  by  the  in- 
juries to  which  they  are  daily  subject,  stained 
by  every  vice,  and  groaning  under  every  evil, 
the  people  of  Egypt  have  fallen  to  an  ineffa- 
ble depth  of  wretchedness  and  meanness. 
Every  traveller  who  speaks  of  them,  loads 
them  with  a  profusion  of  the  vilest  terms 
which  language  supplies.  Thevenot  terms 
them  "  exceedingly  wicked,  great  rogues, 
cowardly,  lazy,  hypocrites."  Of  the  Mame- 
lukes, the  military  body  whom  the  Turks  long 
employed  in  the  government  of  the  country, 
Volney  says:  "Educated  in  ignorance  and 
superstition,  they  become  ferocious,  from  ha- 
bitual murder  ;  perfidious,  from  cabals  ;  sedi- 
tious, from  riot ;  base,  deceitful,  and  corrupt- 
ed by  every  species  of  debauchery."  Of  the 
people,  Volney  says :  "  We  may  easily  con- 
ceive that,  in  such  a  country,  every  thing  is 
correspondent  with  its  wretched  government. 


94  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

The  peasants  are  hired  laborers,  who  only  get 
what  is  barely  sufficient  to  sustain  life.  Their 
habitations  are  mud-walled  huts,  where  they 
are  suffocated  with  heat  and  smoke,  and  often 
attacked  with  distempers,  arising  from  un- 
cleanness,  dampness,  and  unwholesome  food  ; 
and  to  these  physical  evils  are  added  contin- 
ual alarms,  the  dread  of  the  robberies  of  the 
Arabs,  and  the  extortions  of  the  Mamelukes, 
family  quarrels,  and  ail  the  miseries  of  con- 
stant civil  wars. 

u  This  is  a  faithful  picture  of  all  the  villages, 
and  no  less  so  of  the  towns.  Even  at  Cairo, 
the  stranger,  on  his  arrival,  is  struck  with  the 
appearance  of  universal  wretchedness  and 
misery-  The  crowds  thronging  the  streets, 
present  nothing  but  filthy  rags.  Every  thing 
he  sees  or  hears,  reminds  him  that  he  is  in  the 
abode  of  slavery  and  tyranny.  Nothing  is 
spoken  of  but  intestine  broils,  public  misery, 
pecuniary  extortions,  bastinadoes,  and  mur- 
ders. There  is  no  protection  for  life  or  prop- 
erty. Human  blood  is  shed  like  that  of  the 
vilest  animals.  Justice  herself  condemns  to 
death  without  form."  "  It  shall  be  the  basest 
of  the  kingdoms  ;  neither  shall  it  exalt  itself 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     95 

any  more  above  the  nations  ;  for  I  will  dimin- 
ish them,  and  they  shall  no  more  rule  over  the 
nations" 

Can  we  not  in  this  discern  the  righteous 
retribution  of  Providence  ?  Egypt  was  the 
first  to  impose  a  yoke  upon  the  nations  ;  not  a 
yoke  of  dominion,  but  of  a  kind  more  degrad- 
ing— a  yoke  of  polytheism  and  gross  idolatry. 
From  her,  as  from  a  fountain,  flowed  all  the 
superstition  by  which  the  earth  was  corrupt- 
ed ;  and  now  for  ages,  every  people  which 
have  become  the  masters  of  the  world  have 
oppressed  and  despised  her.  But  how  amaz- 
ing and  inscrutable  are  the  ways  of  God  ! 
As  if  to  atone  for  the  mischief  she  inflicted 
on  the  world  in  early  times,  Egypt  is  now 
conferring  incalculable  benefits  upon  it.  Her 
monuments,  inscribed  with  the  history  of  the 
most  early  ages,  are  beginning  to  be  deci- 
phered ;  her  temples  and  tombs  to  be  explored ; 
and  the  first-fruits  of  a  glorious  harvest  have 
been  reaped,  which,  when  the  whole  has  been 
gathered  in,  will  make  one  of  the  most  mag- 
nificent offerings  ever  laid  on  the  altar  of  Rev- 
elation. It  was  only  in  the  end  of  the  last 
century  that  Voltaire  affirmed  that  the  Egypt 


96  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

of  the  Bible  was  a  mistake  ;  since  that  time, 
Egypt  herself  has  been  disinterred — the 
Egypt  of  four  thousand  years  ago — and  be- 
fore this  awful  preacher  from  the  dead  the 
Infidel  stands  silent  and  confounded. 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.  97 


EDOM. 


We  recross  the  Nile,  and,  bidding  adieu  to 
that  land  of  mystery  and  wonders  in  which 
we  have  made  so  brief  a  sojourn,  we  strike 
into  the  great  wilderness  that  lies  on  the  east 
of  it.  We  are  now  treading  on  the  path  of 
the  mighty  host  which  God,  with  an  out- 
stretched arm,  led  out  of  Egypt.  We  have 
gone  round  the  head  of  the  Red  Sea,  and  are 
journeying  south,  over  a  tract  alternately 
sandy  and  stony.  On  our  right  is  a  chain  of 
naked  heights,  and  on  our  left  are  the  blue* 
waters  of  the  gulf  on  the  shore  of  which  the 
Israelites  halted  and  sang  their  magnificent 
triumphal  ode,  over  the  destruction  of  Pha- 
raoh and  his  army.  Our  path  is  not  all  des- 
ert ;  we  alight,  at  long  stages,  in  some  quiet 
valley,  with  its  springs  and  palm-trees,  and  its 
rich  verdure,  so  refreshing  to  the  eyes  after 
the  glare  of  the  sands  of  the  wilderness. 
9 


98  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

Even  here  we  meet  with  mementoes  of  scenes 
which,  though  long  past,  are  never  to  be  for- 
gotten. Here  is  Howara,  the  bitter  fountain 
where  the  Israelites  murmured,  encompassed 
with  its  sand  mounds  and  its  date-trees ;  and 
here,  a  little  farther  to  the  south,  is  Wady 
Gharendel — the  Valley  of  Elim — where  the 
people  encamped,  still  verdant  with  waters 
and  palm-trees. 

We  go  forward,  and  now,  at  a  great  dis- 
tance, just  peering  above  the  sands  of  the  des- 
ert, is  a  little  point  of  rock.  It  grows  taller 
and  bigger  at  every  step,  till  at  length,  what 
but  a  little  before  was  only  a  small  dark  pro- 
tuberance on  the  bosom  of  the  plain,  towers 
before  us  a  stupendous  mountain  of  granite. 
The  mass  before  us,  whose  surface  is  of  naked 
rock  or  bare  sands,  forms  a  cluster  of  peaks 
or  mountains,  which  rise  to  a  great  height 
above  the  level  of  the  plain.  These  are  the 
mountains  of  Horeb  and  Sinai.  We  begin 
to  tread  reverently,  for  the  desert  around  these 
illustrious  piles  has  the  profound  calm,  and 
we  persuade  ourselves  something  also  of  the 
holiness,  of  a  magnificent  temple.  The  poor 
monks  have  set  down  their  convent  on  the 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.     99 

back-side  of  one  of  these  mountains,  with 
a  little  hollow  beneath,  in  which  there  is 
scarce  standing-room  for  a  few  hundred  per- 
sons. On  this  summit,  they  tell  us,  was  the 
law  given,  and  in  the  little  ravine  at  its  bot- 
tom, stood  the  hosts  of  Israel.  It  is  refresh- 
ing to  turn  from  man's  narrow  conceptions  to 
the  free  majesty  of  nature.  Of  the  cluster 
of  summits  which  here  tower  with  such  sub- 
limity into  the  serene  firmament  over  them, 
we  know  that  Sinai  and  Horeb  are  of  the 
number,  though  we  cannot  tell  to  which  of 
these  eminences  that  distinction  belongs.  But 
it  is  something  to  know  that  we  are  now  gaz- 
ing on  the  scenery  of  Sinai — on  the  summits 
and  the  valleys  which  then  lay  veiled  in  the 
darkness,  or  glowed  beneath  the  lightnings, 
which  attended  that  awful  event — on  the 
plains  which  rung  to  the  trumpet  which  wax- 
ed louder  and  louder,  and  quaked  beneath 
the  still  more  awful  Voice  which  proclaimed 
the  law. 

But  our  present  destination  is  not  yet  reach- 
ed. We  leave  the  bottom  of  these  mountains, 
and  as  their  venerable  peaks  sink  behind  us, 
an  interminable  ocean  of  sand  spreads  out  in 


100  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

our  front.  Our  course  lies  to  the  north-east ; 
and  after  traversing  many  a  league  of  wilder- 
ness, we  hail  with  joy  the  rugged  peaks  of 
Mount  Seir,  which  now  begin  to  be  seen 
above  the  desert.  Seir,  to  which  we  are  now 
approaching,  is  a  chain  of  mountains,  termi- 
nating in  a  crest  of  romantic  peaks,  which 
runs  in  a  straight  line  across  the  desert,  from 
a  point  a  little  south  of  the  Dead  Sea  to  the 
head  of  the  Gulf  of  Akaba,  the  eastern  arm 
of  the  Red  Sea.  This  magnificent  chain — 
for  though  stripped  of  its  ancient  fertility, 
Mount  Seir  retains  to  this  day  a  desolate 
grandeur  which  well  entitles  it  to  be  regarded 
as  magnificent — comprises  the  ancient  realm 
of  Edom.  His  devotion  to  the  chase  often 
led  Esau  thither  in  his  youth,  and  there  did 
he  ultimately  settle ;  his  posterity,  in  course 
of  time,  expelling  the  Horites, — the  first  in- 
habitants of  these  mountains.  The  Edomites 
greatly  enlarged  their  domain  in  after  ages ; 
but  the  mountainous  region  before  us,  which 
is  about  thirty-six  miles  in  breadth,  with  part 
of  the  eastern  plain  immediately  adjoining, 
must  be  viewed  as  forming  strictly  their  pat- 
rimonial inheritance.     In  ancient  times,  the 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    101 

climate  of  these  hills  was  most  salubrious — 
their  dews  were  abundant ;  the  mountains,  up 
to  their  spiky  pinnacles,  were  clothed  with  the 
olive  and  the  vine  ;  the  valleys  and  the  rocky 
clefts  were  covered  with  the  richest  mould  ; 
the  mountain-torrents  were  numerous  ;  and 
the  sun  being  warm,  the  produce  of  these 
hills  was  very  great.  "  Behold,  thy  dwelling 
shall  be  the  fatness  of  the  earth,  and  of  the  dew 
of  heaven  from  above."  Such  were  the  words 
in  which  Isaac,  by  the  Spirit  of  prophecy, 
described  the  future  inheritance  of  Esau  and 
his  posterity.  The  mingled  grandeur,  beauty, 
and  fertility,  which  the  region  of  Seir  exhib- 
ited, while  occupied  by  the  Edomites,  amply 
verified  the  words  of  Isaac. 

Established  in  this  mountainous  region — a 
fit  home  for  a  hardy,  brave,  and  industrious 
people — the  posterity  of  Esau  rapidly  out- 
stripped in  their  progress  to  distinction,  their 
brethren,  the  descendants  of  Jacob.  While 
the  Israelites,  enthralled  in  Egypt,  had  neither 
a  country  nor  a  national  existence,  the  Edom- 
ites, under  the  sway  of  their  own  princes, 
and  enjoying  in  their  mountain  fastnesses  the 
sweets  of  freedom  and  peace,  were  busily 
9* 


102  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

engaged  in  laying  the  foundations  of  that 
greatness  as  a  nation  to  which  they  were 
destined  to  attain.  Their  father  Esau  had 
been  distinguished  as  a  "  cunning  hunter ;" 
but  his  posterity  were  not  slow  to  acquire  the 
knowledge  of  other  pursuits  than  those  in 
which  their  ancestor  had  excelled.  They 
rapidly  achieved  no  mean  eminence  in  arts 
and  in  arms,  in  science  and  in  commerce,  and 
in  the  wealth,  refinement,  luxury,  and  wicked- 
ness which  extensive  and  prosperous  com- 
merce brings  along  with  it.  It  was  at  this 
era  of  their  nation  that  numerous  and  mag- 
nificent cities  began  to  rise  amid  those  moun- 
tains, on  whose  sides,  in  early  times,  their 
simple  progenitor  had  chased  the  prey.  Of 
these  cities,  the  most  distinguished  was  Petra, 
the  capital  of  the  nation.  This  city  was  the 
centre  of  a  commerce  that  ramified  as  far  as 
India  on  the  east,  and  Spain  on  the  west ; 
and  the  importance  and  splendor  of  this  city 
were  such  as  befitted  the  gigantic  traffic  of 
which  it  was  the  emporium.  Its  romantic 
position,  and  the  singular  character  and 
beauty  of  its  buildings,  excited  the  admira- 
tion, and  received  the  praise,  both  of  Greek 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    103 

and  Roman  writers.  It  stood  in  a  little  hol- 
low in  the  very  heart  of  the  mountains.  To 
it  there  was  only  one  way  of  approach — a 
frightful  chasm  of  some  two  miles  long,  nar- 
row, and  overhung  by  gloomy  precipices. 
Traversing  this  defile,  the  visitor  emerged  on 
a  plain  of  about  two  miles  in  circuit  occupied 
by  dwellings,  temples,  triumphal  arches,  a 
theatre,  and  numerous  tombs.  These  last 
added  not  a  little  to  the  beauty  of  the  city. 
They  were  hewn  in  the  mountains  which  in- 
closed Petra,  they  were  ornamented  with  el- 
egant facades,  and  resembled,  though  on  a 
much  smaller  scale,  those  princely  halls  which 
the  kings  of  Egypt  prepared  for  the  reception 
of  their  bodies.  The  city,  moreover,  being 
much  exposed  to  the  reflection  of  the  sun's 
rays  from  the  mountains  that  encompassed  it, 
was  cooled  by  artificial  fountains,  and  beau- 
tified by  gardens.  Such  was  Petra — it  was 
the  abode  of  royalty — the  home  of  wisdom — 
the  mart  of  the  world — to  replenish  which 
all  the  climes  of  the  earth  sent  their  treasures  ; 
India,  her  gems  ;  Arabia,  her  frankincense ; 
Kedar,  her  lambs  ;  Persia,  her  robes  ;  Ar- 
menia,  her  horses ;    Lebanon,   her   cedars ; 


104  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

Tyre,  her  purple  ;  and  Judea,  her  balm  and 
honey.  Against  this  region,  occupied  then 
by  a  warlike  and  enterprising  people,  and 
covered  with  towns — for  though  we  have 
specified  only  Petra,  almost  every  valley  had 
its  city,  which  shared  in  the  importance  and 
wealth  of  the  capital — against  this  flourishing 
region  did  the  prophets  pronounce  the  doom 
of  utter  desolation  ;  and  we  are  here  to  see 
whether  that  doom  has  been  inflicted. 

We  cannot  tarry  long  here,  therefore  let 
us  select  a  good  point  of  view,  and  have  the 
whole  country  under  the  eye  at  once.  Here, 
in  the  middle  of  the  chain,  is  a  summit  which 
overtops  all  the  rest.  Let  us  ascend  it.  This 
is  the  very  mountain  on  which  Aaron  died 
and  was  buried.  Now  we  are  on  its  top, 
and  prepared  to  bring  the  prophets  of  Israel 
to  the  test  of  actual  facts.  But,  first,  let  us 
think  what  it  was  which  they  foretold  re- 
garding this  land.  They  foretold,  1st.  That 
its  soil  should  be  utterly  wasted  ;  2d.  That  its 
cities  should  all  perish  ;  3d.  That  its  com- 
merce should  be  annhilated ;  4th.  That  its 
people  should  be  cut  off.  Now,  let  us  begin 
our  survey  : — If  Edom  be  at  this  day  a  fertile 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    105 

and  flourishing  region — if  her  mountains  be 
occupied  by  men  and  cities,  as  of  old,  then 
let  it  be  acknowledged  that  the  prophets  did 
not  speak  by  the  Spirit  of  inspiration.  But 
if  Edom  be  a  desolation,  then  let  it  be  con- 
fessed that  they  were  inspired.  Now,  look 
all  around,  you  see  the  bare  sides  of  the  hills 
— you  see  how  they  offer  to  the  winter's 
tempest  and  the  summer's  sun  nothing  but 
naked  flint.  Observe  the  rugged  crests  of 
the  mountains,  how  they  range  around  us 
like  the  waves  of  a  tumultuous  sea  vexed  by 
the  winds.  Turn  now  to  the  west — look  im- 
mediately beneath,  you  observe  that  broad 
valley  which  runs  along  the  foot  of  the  hills ; 
you  see  how  its  bosom  is  entirely  covered 
with  sand  and  flints.  Could  that  valley  be 
cultivated  ?  And  yet  that  valley  in  former 
times  was,  in  part,  at  least,  clothed  with  vine- 
yards and  watered  by  streams  from  Mount 
Seir.  Hath  not  Jehovah,  as  he  said,  "  stretched 
out  upon  it  the  line  of  confusion  and  the 
stones  of  emptiness  ?"  Turn  now  to  the  east. 
You  perceive,  looking  over  the  summits  of 
the  mountains,  that  level  plain  on  the  east  of 
them.     You  can  still  trace  the  inclosures  of 


106  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

its  ancient  fields,  and  the  heaps  of  its  former 
cities.  These  are  the  fields  to  which  the 
Edomite,  in  days  gone  by,  went  forth  to  sow, 
and  to  which  in  autumn  he  returned  to  reap. 
The  southern  winds  have  buried  them  be- 
neath the  sands  of  the  wilderness,  and  never 
more,  to  the  end  of  time,  shall  they  be  either 
sown  or  reaped.  Is  not  this  what  the  pro- 
phets said,  "  From  generation  to  generation 
it  shall  lie  waste  V  Look  next,  and  look 
narrowly  among  the  mountains,  whether  iiny 
of  its  cities  remain.  You  may  search  them 
all  without  finding  one  of  them — scarcely  will 
you  find  even  ruins,  so  completely  have  they 
been  destroyed  :  "  /  will  lay  thy  cities  waste, 
and  thou  shalt  be  desolate."  Listen  next,  if 
perchance  we  may  hear  the  hum  of  its  busy 
people.  All  is  silent.  Nothing  disturbs  the 
stillness,  unless,  perchance,  the  eagle's  scream, 
or  the  wild  shout  of  the  Arab  as  he  urges  his 
camel  to  quicken  its  pace,  and  pass  on  through 
this  desolate  country.  And  in  the  awful  sol- 
itude of  these  hills,  it  seems  as  if  we  still 
heard  the  echoes  of  that  voice  which  cried 
of  old :  "  There  shall  not  be  any  remaining 
of  the  house  of  Esau.'''     Of  the  two  brothers 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    107 

who  grew  up  together  on  the  plain  of  Beer- 
sheba — how  different  has  been  the  fate  of 
their  posterity  !  yet  that  fate  is  in  exact  ac- 
cordance with  prophecy.  We  find  the  de- 
scendants of  the  younger  son  in  every  coun- 
try under  heaven  ;  but  the  descendants  of 
the  elder  are  nowhere  to  be  found.  None 
can  claim  descent  from  Esau  :  il  Esau  shall 
be  cut  off  forever ."  And  as  to  the  trade  of 
this  country  :  had  we  stood  where  we  now 
stand  eighteen  centuries  ago,  we  would  have 
seen  lines  of  camels  innumerable,  approach- 
ing Edom  on  the  east — some  with  the  stuffs 
of  India,  others  with  the  spices  of  Arabia, 
and  others  with  the  ivory  and  other  mer- 
chandise of  Armenia  ;  while,  on  the  west  of 
Edom,  we  would  have  seen  them  departing 
with  their  wares — some  to  Egypt,  some  to 
Greece,  some  to  Italy,  and  some  to  more  dis- 
tant lands  ;  but  now,  how  completely  has  that 
traffic  come  to  an  end  !  Throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  wilderness,  now  under  the 
eye,  you  cannot  see  a  single  merchant  car- 
avan either  going  or  returning  from  Edom  : 
"  /  will  cut  off  from  Edom  him  that  passeth 
out,  and  him  that  returneth." 


108  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

Now  we  shall  descend.  But  stay — what 
ruins  are  these  immediately  beneath  us  ?  Look 
directly  down.  You  see  a  little  plain,  with 
a  stream  crossing  it,  and  on  the  plain  some 
heaps  of  rubbish,  a  broken  arch,  a  few  pros- 
trate columns  ;  and  all  around  the  plain  you 
see  a  perpendicular  wall  of  rock  formed  by 
the  mountains  ;  and  you  see,  moreover,  that 
the  rock  is  hewn  into  dwellings  and  tombs — 
that  it  is  covered  with  the  most  magnificent 
structures,  not  erected  by  the  hand,  but  hewn 
in  the  mountains  by  the  chisel.  What  ruins 
are  these  ?  Ah  !  these  are  the  ruins  of  Petra, 
the  capital  of  Edom.  In  the  palaces  that  stood 
on  that  plain  dwelt  the  Edomite  while  living : 
and  in  these  tombs  in  the  face  of  the  cliff  he 
reposed  when  dead.  There  is  not  now  a  sin- 
gle inhabitant  on  the  spot. 

We  are  scarce  near  enough  to  see  the  bram- 
bles and  creeping  plants  with  which  the  ruins 
on  the  plain  beneath  us  are  mantled  ;  but  the 
hootings  of  the  owl  come  drearily  up  the  moun- 
tain, and  the  eagle's  scream  is  sounding  fierce- 
ly among  the  hills.  These  are  now  the  only 
tenants  on  the  site  of  Petra.  Every  thing  we 
see  and  hear  testifies  to  the  exact  and  fearful 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    109 

accomplishment  of  the  doom  pronounced  on 
this  city  of  old  :  "  Thy  terribleness  hath  de- 
ceived thee,  and  the  pride  of  thine  heart,  O 
thoa  that  dwell  jst  in  the  clefts  of  the  rock,  that 
holdest  the  height  of  the  hill.  Though  thou 
shouldest  make  thy  nest  as  high  as  the  eagle, 
I  will  bring  thee  down  from  thence,  saith  the 
Lord.  Also  Edom  shall  be  a  desolation ;  every 
one  that  goeth  by  it  shall  be  astonished,  and 
shall  hiss  at  all  the  plagues  thereof.  As  in  the 
overthrow  of  Sodom  and  Gomorrah,  and  the 
neighbor  cities  thereof,  saith  the  Lord,  no  man 
shall  abide  there,  neither  shall  a  son  of  man 
dwell  in  it.  And  thorns  shall  come  up  in  her 
palaces,  nettles  and  brambles  in  the  fortresses 
thereof;  and  it  shall  be  an  habitation  of  drag- 
ons, and  a  court  for  owls." 

Singular  indeed  is  the  history  of  this  city, 
and  solemn  the  lesson  which  it  reads  to  the 
Infidel.  It  teaches  him  that,  though  no  new 
miracles  are  now  to  be  looked  for,  to  attest 
the  truth  of  revelation,  proofs  marvellous  and 
manifold  are  laid  up  in  the  earth  around  him. 
and  are  to  be  brought  forth,  each  at  its  ap* 
pointed  hour,  to  shed  a  new  beauty  on  the 
pages  of  the  Bible,  and  to  add  to  the  evidence 
10 


110  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

by  which  its  divinity  is  supported.  May  not 
a  resurrection,  not  of  dead  prophets,  but  of 
dead  cities,  be  awaiting  the  world  ?  Those 
who  spoke  these  predictions  can  never  return ; 
but  may  not  those  against  whom  they  were 
spoken  yet  appear  before  us,  to  tender  their 
evidence  of  the  complete  accomplishment  of 
the  predicted  doom  ?  Here  is  Petra  brought 
up  from  the  grave,  to  preach  to  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  Here,  on  her  ancient  site,  stand- 
ing in  sackcloth,  is  the  metropolis  of  Edom, 
bearing  her  testimony  to  the  truth  of  the 
prophets.  That  Petra,  and  not  Isaiah — not 
the  prophet  who  predicted  the  doom,  but  the 
city  on  which  the  doom  has  fallen — should  be 
summoned  from  the  grave,  is  surely  the  more 
satisfactory  kind  of  evidence,  and  the  more 
consistent  way  of  dealing  with  our  under- 
standings. It  is  only  in  our  own  day  that  this 
witness  to  the  inspiration  of  the  prophets  has 
been  raised  up.  Thirty-six  years  ago  no  man 
knew  where  Petra  had  stood.  She  had  passed 
from  the  earth  more  than  a  thousand  years 
before,  and  left  no  trace  of  her  existence,  save 
the  brief  notices  of  her  former  grandeur  which 
are  to  be  found  in  the  pages  of  Strabo  and 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    Ill 

his  contemporaries.  Her  doom  remained 
inscribed  in  the  scroll  of  prophecy,  but  we 
wanted  circumstantial  evidence  to  verify  that 
doom  in  all  its  particulars.  The  Infidel  was 
entitled  to  ask,  Do  owls  dwell  in  her  palaces  ? 
do  brambles  and  nettles  come  up  in  her  for- 
tresses ?  But  our  knowledge  did  not  extend 
beyond  the  general  fact  that  Petra  had  disap- 
peared. But  Providence  opened  to  Burck- 
hardt  the  gates  of  Mount  Seir.  and  brought 
Petra  forth  from  the  grave  in  which  she  had 
been  hid  for  upwards  of  a  thousand  years, 
with  every  particular  of  the  predicted  doom 
accomplished  upon  her.  This  is  but  the  har- 
binger of  many  such  discoveries.  Already 
the  progress  of  discovery  has  brought  to  light 
many  a  novel  and  surprising  proof;  but  much 
yet  remains  to  be  done.  The  mounds  of  Nin- 
eveh and  Babylon  have  yet  to  be  explored ; 
and  we  venture  to  predict,  that,  on  being  so, 
they  shall  be  found  to  be  vast  repositories  of 
facts  preserved  by  Providence  for  the  con- 
firmation of  those  who  live  in  the  last  age. 
The  ruins  of  Syria  have  yet  to  be  more  care- 
fully examined  ;  the  graven  monuments  of 
Egypt  to  be  deciphered — her  sculptured  tern- 


112  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

pies  and  painted  tombs  more  closely  inspect- 
ed ;  and,  when  this  has  been  done,  we  shall 
find  ourselves  in  possession  of  many  a  historic 
document,  many  a  voucher  to  the  truth  of  the 
prophets,  which,  meanwhile,  we  dream  not 
of,  and  which  will  astonish  the  world,  and 
cover  the  gainsay er  with  confusion. 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.         113 


MOAB. 


We  shall  now  go  to  Moab ;  but  how  lies 
the  country  of  Moab,  as  regards  Edom  ? 
Well,  then,  turn  to  the  north.  You  perceive, 
at  the  distance  of  two  days'  journey — for  here 
the  skies  are  clear,  and  you  can  see  far — the 
motionless  surface  of  the  Dead  Sea,  glowing 
like  a  molten  mirror  under  the  sun's  rays, 
and  encompassed  all  round  by  a  margin  of 
black  mountains :  that  level  country  on  the 
east  of  the  Dead  Sea  is  the  country  of  Moab. 
Moab  in  ancient  times  was  emphatically  a 
land  of  vineyards ;  it  was  also  a  land  of  cities. 
What  a  goodly  prospect  did  the  little  hill  of 
Heshbon  afford  in  former  days  !  The  travel- 
ler who  looked  from  thence  counted  the  cities 
of  the  Moabites  lying  around  him,  not  in 
scores  simply,  but  in  hundreds ;  each  sitting 
queen-like  upon  its  little  eminence,  encom- 
passed by  vineyards,  and  fields  of  golden 
10* 


114  A    JOURNEY     OVER    THE 

grain  ;  while  streams  intersected  the  country, 
like  threads  of  silver  woven  into  the  deep 
verdure  of  its  plains.  Let  us  hasten  forward; 
perhaps  the  beauty  of  Moab  may  make  some 
amends  for  the  frightful  sterility  of  Edom. 
Now  we  are  on  the  banks  of  the  brook  Zered. 
Here  ends  the  territory  of  Edom,  and  here 
begins  that  of  Moab.  Let  us  sit  down  on  the 
banks  of  the  stream,  and  read  what  the  pro- 
phets spake  concerning  this  land. 

"  O  vine  of  Sibmah,  I  will  weep  for  thee 
with  the  weeping  of  Jazer.  The  spoiler  is 
fallen  upon  thy  summer  fruits  and  upon  thy 
vintage :  and  joy  and  gladness  is  taken  from 
the  plentiful  field,  and  from  the  land  of  Moab  ; 
and  I  have  caused  wine  to  fail  from  the  wine- 
presses. None  shall  tread  with  shouting ; 
their  shouting  shall  be  no  shouting.  Woe 
unto  Nebo  !  for  it  is  spoiled.  Kiriathaim  is 
confounded  and  taken.  Misgab  is  confound- 
ed and  dismayed.  There  shall  be  no  more 
praise  of  Moab.  The  spoiler  shall  come  upon 
every  city,  and  no  city  shall  escape.  Give 
wings  unto  Moab  that  it  may  flee  and  get 
away  :  for  the  cities  thereof  shall  be  desolate., 
without  any  to  dwell  therein." 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.         115 

Now  we  shall  close  the  book,  and  go  for- 
ward. We  have  crossed  the  stream,  and  are 
in  the  land  of  Moab.  We  are  in  the  land  of 
Moab,  but  where  are  the  vineyards  of  Moab  ? 
where  are  her  harvests,  her  cities,  her  people? 
All  are  as  completely  vanished  as  if  they  had 
never  been.  How  evident  is  it  that  the  turf 
beneath  our  feet  has  not  been  disturbed  by 
the  plough  for  ages  !  How  evident  is  it  that 
in  this  land  men  neither  sow  nor  reap — nei- 
ther build  houses  nor  plant  vineyards  !  The 
whole  country  is  covered  with  sward  which 
is  green  with  luxuriant  herbage  during  the 
winter  rains,  but  brown  and  parched  when 
the  heats  of  summer  set  in  :  and  beneath  that 
turf  slumbers  a  soil  which,  were  it  cultivated, 
would  yield  an  hundred-fold.  We  do  not 
mean  that  this  was  its  productive  power  of 
old — it  is  what  it  is  able  still  to  produce. 
Small  patches  are  sometimes  cultivated  in 
the  northern  part  of  this  plain  ;  and  Burck- 
hardt  was  assured  by  an  Arab  husbandman 
that  sometimes  he  reaped  eighty-fold,  and 
sometimes  even  an  hundred  or  an  hundred 
and  twenty-fold  !  Well,  then,  the  harvests 
and  the  vintage  of  this  land  have  come  to  an 


116  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

end.  And  what  has  been  the  fate  of  her 
cities  ?  Let  their  ruins  testify.  Wherever 
we  go  we  behold  nothing  but  ruins.  Every 
little  eminence  had  its  city  of  old  ;  every  little 
eminence  has  its  heap  of  ruins  now.  Here, 
on  this  little  mount  on  the  left,  you  see  the 
ruins  of  a  temple ;  a  gate,  with  the  edifice 
into  which  it  led  gone  ;  two  Corinthian  col- 
umns ;  and  in  a  plain  a  little  to  the  west,  a 
stone  altar,  but  without  a  worshipper.  This 
was  once  Ar,  the  capital  of  Moab  ;  and  as  the 
traveller  passes  it  by  he  casts  a  glance  on 
these  memorials,  and  remembers  the  predic- 
tion :  "  Ar  of  Moab  is  laid  waste  and  brought 
to  silence." 

From  these  ruins  to  the  banks  of  the  Arnon 
is  a  distance  of  twenty-five  miles.  The  rich 
soil  exhibits  not  a  trace  of  cultivation,  and  is 
covered  everywhere  with  ruins.  The  Be- 
douins and  their  flocks  have  trodden  these 
ruins  under  foot  for  ages,  and  now  they  are 
mere  heaps  of  rubbish.  A  prostrate  column 
or  the  facade  of  a  fallen  temple  may  yet  grace 
some  of  these  sites  ;  but  this  is  rare.  The 
glory  of  Moab  is  now  trodden  down  as  straw 
is  trodden  down  for  the  dunghill.     The  pal- 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    117 

ace  is  gone,  and  the  Arab's  tent  is  pitched 
where  it  stood.    The  citizens  of  Moab  are  cut 
off,  and  flocks  are  folded  where  they  dwelt. 
Now  are  we  on  the  banks  of  the  Anion.    We 
descend   the   steep   declivity,   pass  over  the 
stripe  of  verdure  by  which  the  bottom  of  the 
valley  is  inlaid,  and  climbing  the  Roman  road 
which  leads  up  the  opposite  slope,  emerge  on 
the  northern  bank.    We  proceed  on  our  way, 
the  path  lying,  as  before,  over  wasted  fields 
and  amid  rained  cities.    Here,  on  the  edge  of 
the  precipice  which  overhangs  the  Arnon  val- 
ley, are  the  ruins  of  Aroer.     Before  us  are 
the  plains  of  Moab,  which  once  bore  on  their 
bosom  the  encampment  of  the  Israelites,  who 
rested    amid    its   vineyards    and    beside  its 
streams  after  their  journey  of  forty  years  in 
the  wilderness.     We  behold  it  now  crossed 
with  dry  torrent  beds,  and  without  a  single 
shrub  or  tree  to  screen  its  soil  from  the  rays 
of  a  scorching  sun.      We   go   forward,  the 
path  skirting  the  base  of  Dejebel  Attarous, 
which  rises  on  our  left — the  supposed  Pisgah 
of  the  Scriptures.    We  pass  the  ruins  of  Kiria- 
thaim,  and  Medeba,  and  Beth-meon,  and  Ele- 
aleh,  and  at  last  we  ascend  the  little  eminence 


118  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

on  which  stood,  in  former  days,  the  beauteous 
Heshbon.  Here,  amid  the  few  remaining  me- 
morials of  Heshbon's  splendor,  we  shall  halt 
and  take  a  last  look  of  Moab.  Under  our 
eye  is  now  a  vast  extent  of  undulating  coun- 
try, extending  to  the  Jordan  on  one  side  and 
the  desert  on  the  other ;  its  soil  rivalling,  nay, 
excelling,  in  fertility,  the  finest  lands  in  Eu- 
rope ;  yet  the  country  is  a  wilderness.  The 
vines  that  covered  it  are  perished  from  its 
soil  ;  the  cities  that  beautified  it  have  sunk 
into  the  earth ;  its  people,  too,  are  extinct,  and 
to  complete  its  calamities,  the  desert  has  sent 
its  children  forth  to  perpetuate  its  desolation. 
These  swarthy  bands  which  you  see  roaming 
over  it  in  every  direction,  and  which,  refusing 
to  cultivate  the  soil  themselves,  will  not  allow 
others  to  do  so,  are  now  the  only  inhabitants 
of  Moab  :  "  /  have  broken  Moab  like  a  vessel 
wherein  is  no  pleasure,  saith  the  Lord.  Moab 
is  spoiled  and  gone  up  out  of  her  cities ! 
They  shall  cry,  saying,  How  is  it  broken 
down  /" 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    119 


AMMON. 


Now  let  us  pass  on  to  Amnion.  Our  course 
is  due  north  ;  and  as  we  go,  we  catch  at  times 
glimpses  of  the  mountain-peaks  of  Judea,  tell- 
ing us  that  there,  on  the  west  of  the  Jordan, 
are  scenes  of  still  greater  desolation  than  any 
on  this  side  of  that  stream.  Our  course,  we 
say,  is  due  north;  and  now  we  are  in  Amnion. 
The  Ammonites,  like  their  neighbors,  the 
Moabites,  cherished  an  implacable  hatred  of 
the  chosen  people ;  and  that  exposed  them  to 
a  doom  not  very  dissimilar.  The  sum  of  what 
the  prophets  foretold  regarding  this  country 
was,  1st,  That  the  land  of  Amnion  should  be 
a  couching-place  for  flocks;  and,  2d,  That 
the  capital  of  Amnion,  (Rabbah)  should  be  a 
stable  for  camels.  Well,  we  pass  the  boun- 
dary, and  survey  the  country.  It  looks  as  if, 
at  some  former  period,  a  gentle  wind  had  put 
its  soil  in  motion — something  like  the  sea ;  and 


120  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

while  it  was  rolling  on  in  broad  billows,  it  had 
been  suddenly  arrested.  Buckingham  pro- 
nounces it  the  best  corn  land  in  the  world ; 
but  what  avail  the  riches  of  its  soil  ? — it  lies 
untilled  ;  and  being  covered  with  a  rich  spon- 
taneous herbage,  it  has  drawn  hither  countless 
swarms  of  Bedouins.  Thus  as  you  journey 
over  Ammon,  you  behold  only  shepherds,  with 
their  flocks.  The  country  has  become  one 
wide  fold;  every  part  of  it  is  thus  occupied — 
its  ruins,  the  banks  of  its  streams,  the  open 
plain,  all  are  a  couching-place  for  flocks.  And 
here  you  will  note  the  nice  distinction  be- 
tween the  prophecy  as  it  relates  to  the  land 
of  Chaldea.  Both,  at  the  time  when  the  pro- 
phecy was  given,  were  equally  rich  and  flour- 
ishing ;  but  it  was  foretold  that  there  should 
be  a  distinction  between  the  future  desola- 
tion of  each.  Of  Ammon,  it  was  said  that  it 
should  be  a  land  of  flocks ;  of  Chaldea,  that 
the  shepherd's  tent  should  not  be  seen  upon  it : 
and  so  is  it  now.  The  plain  of  Babylon  is  so 
utterly  wasted,  that  the  shepherd's  tent  is 
never  seen  upon  it ;  but  the  fields  of  Ammon 
are  still  depastured  by  flocks. 

The  ruined  sites  of  Ammon  are  not  quite 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.         121 

so  numerous  as  those  of  Moab ;  but  they  are 
in  a  better  state  of  preservation.     The  cities 
of  the  latter  country  are  now  mere  heaps ; 
those  of  the  former  still  exhibit  considerable 
signs  of  their  former  importance — the  walls 
of  dwellings  and  temples,   theatres.  Roman 
arches,    columns,   sarcophagi — such  are    the 
memorials  still  found  on  the  sites  of  the  coun- 
try we  are  traversing.     We  call  attention  to 
its  capital,  because  it  was  said  :  "  I  will  make 
Rabbah  a  stable  for  camels."     Let  us  take  its 
ruins  in  our  way,  and  see  whether  the  pro- 
phecy has  been  fulfilled.     Traversing,  then, 
the  rolling  plain,  which  has  a  downward  slope 
all  the  way,  we  join  the  highway,  or  paved 
road,  which  leads  to  the  ruins  ;  this  is  one  of 
those  vestiges  which  Rome  has  left  of  her 
greatness  on  the  countries  which,  like  Amnion, 
became  ultimately  subject  to  her  sway.    Pass- 
ing by  many  an  Arabian  flock,  and  not  a  few 
ruined  sites,  we  come  at  length  to  the  valley 
which  contains  the   ruins  of  Rabbah.     De- 
scending over  the  brow  of  the  rocky  emi- 
nence that  shuts  in  the  valley  on  the  east,  we 
find  ourselves  in  the  Necropolis  of  Ammon. 
The  valley  runs  of!  to  the  west ;  and  is  about 
11 


122  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

two  hundred  yards  in  breadth ;  a  stream  of 
clear  water  runs  through  it,  and  it  is  inclosed 
all  round  by  low  flinty  hills,  on  which  stood 
the  ancient  fortifications  of  the  city.  The 
principal  street  ran  along  by  the  river ;  for 
here  are  the  remains  of  the  public  buildings — 
temples,  a  large  theatre,  a  portico,  and  other 
monuments,  which,  in  point  of  size  and  archi- 
tecture, give  one  no  mean  idea  of  the  strength 
and  magnificence  of  this  metropolis.  The 
rest  of  the  valley  is  covered  with  the  founda- 
tions of  private  dwellings — not  one  of  which 
remains  entire.  But  how  are  the  ruins  of 
Rabbah  now  occupied  ?  Exactly  as  the  pro- 
phet foretold.  The  hollow  valley,  the  stream, 
and  the  sheltering  walls  are  strong  attractions 
for  the  Bedouins.  They  drive  their  camels 
down  hither  by  hundreds,  not  only  to  drink, 
but  to  be  stabled  in  the  ruins.  The  place, 
Lord  Lindsay  informs  us,  has  an  intolerable 
stench,  from  the  bones  and  carcasses  of  dead 
camels  that  lie  rotting  in  it,  and  the  valley  is 
covered  everywhere  with  their  litter.  Thus 
do  camels  dwell  where  princes  once  dwelt : 
"I  will  make  Rabbah  a  stable  for  camels." 


EEGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.         123 


GILEAD  AND  BASHAN 


Now  we  bid  adieu  to  the  City  of  Waters, 
and  pursue  our  way  over  the  fertile  and  level 
plain  which  lies  on  the  north  of  it.     The  mag- 
nificence of  the  view  which  here  bursts  on 
the  sight  almost  baffles  description.     The  ele- 
vation of  this  tract  is  great,  and  beneath  us 
are  the  vast  plains  of  the  Hauran,  besprinkled 
with  towns  (not  one  of  which,  however,  is 
inhabited),  and  walled  in  on  the  north  by  the 
snowy  peaks  of  Anti-Libanus.     The  country 
has  now  ceased  to  be  a  plain,  and  become 
mountainous.     This  region  of  wooded  hills, 
and  green  slopes,  and  dells  into  which  the 
mountain  torrents  descend,  on  which  we  now 
enter,  is  the  ancient  Mount  Gilead.     We  are 
charmed  by  the  variety  and  beauty  of  the 
scenery — these  noble  forests  of  oaks  and  pis- 
tachios— these  open  glades,  covered  with  lux- 
uriant herbage — these  valleys,  with  their  cas- 


124  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

cades  and  stream — these  ruins,  which  bespeak 
this  region  in  former  days  the  seat  of  opulent 
towns.  We  are  evidently  in  a  land  of  amaz- 
ing natural  fertility  ;  for,  without  the  hand  of 
man  to  deck  or  culture  it,  it  is  beautiful  and 
rich.  We  feel  it  to  be  healthful,  too,  as  well 
as  beautiful.  Over  head  is  a  clear  deep  blue 
sky,  and  around  us  is  a  breezy  atmosphere, 
which  tempers  the  heat  of  noon.  But  we 
must  go  on  our  way.  We  leave  this  hilly  re- 
gion behind  us,  and  descend  on  the  plains  of 
Bashan.  These  plains  slope  gradually  down 
to  the  Jordan  on  the  west ;  while  on  the  east, 
by  an  easy  ascent,  they  grow  into  the  vast 
level  territory  of  the  Hauran  ;  in  front,  at 
the  distance  of  some  eighteen  miles,  they  swell 
into  a  series  of  little  heights,  which  rise  grad- 
ually one  above  another,  till  at  last  they  grow 
into  those  mighty  and  snow-clad  masses  which 
constitute  the  Anti-Lebanon  mountains.  Im- 
mediately before  us,  its  top  glittering  with 
snow,  and  its  foot  murmuring  with  streams,  is 
the  mighty  form  of  Hermon,  which  of  all  the 
mountains  of  Palestine,  has  the  best  claim  to 
be  considered  the  scene  of  the  Transfigura- 
tion.    The  plain  we  are  now  traversing  was 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.         125 

famous  of  old  for  its  pastures.  We  cannot 
call  it  barren  at  this  day;  but  it  suffers  by 
contrast  with  the  well-wooded  and  watered 
region  which  we  have  just  left :  "  Bashan  Ian- 
guisheth."  As  we  pursue  our  way  over  these 
faded  plains,  and  think  of  the  solitude  which 
reigns  now  where  men  and  cities  were  for- 
merly so  abundant,  we  sigh  for  the  day  when 

The  virgin's  song, 
The  shepherd's  pipe,  the  bridegroom's  evening  harp, 
May  yet  be  heard,  in  mingled  consonance, 
On  Gilead's  mountains,  and  on  Bashan's  plains. 

On  the  east  of  Bashan  are  the  great  plains 
of  the  Hauran.  One  would  think,  to  look  at 
them,  that  of  all  the  regions  on  the  earth  this 
is  the  most  populous ;  so  numerous  are  the 
towns  with  which  it  is  covered  throughout. 
But  it  is  rare,  indeed,  to  find  dwellers  in  these 
cities.  Many  of  them  are  in  ruins,  no  doubt ; 
but  not  a  few  of  them  are  entire  as  when  their 
inhabitants  left  them — houses,  constructed  of 
enormous  blocks,  so  that  no  length  of  time  al- 
most would  suffice  to  reduce  them  to  decay — 
churches  with  steeples  on  them — streets  and 
gates.  The  traveller  feels  as  if  it  were  an 
11* 


126  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

unreal  or  unearthly  scene  on  which  he  is 
gazing — this  picture  of  a  populous  country, 
but  without  people.  Nothing  convinces  us 
more  that  this  region  is  groaning  under  the 
curse,  and  that  this  country  is  an  interdicted 
one  to  all  people  on  the  earth  save  one.  Are 
there  not  thousands  pent  up  in  the  crowded 
cities  of  Britain,  earning  barely  a  miserable 
subsistence?  and  when  forced  to  quit  their 
native  shores,  they  go  to  seek  homes  in  the 
woods  of  the  Western  World,  or  on  the  wilds 
of  the  South  Sea  Islands ;  yet,  here,  at  our 
very  doors  almost,  is  a  country  without  inhab- 
itants— having  cities  ready  to  be  occupied — 
fields  ready  to  be  ploughed — soils  that  would 
yield  a  hundredfold,  and  a  climate  unrivalled, 
either  in  the  west  or  in  the  south  ;  yet  no  na- 
tion seems  willing  or  able  to  take  possession 
of  it.  Surely  an  invisible  barrier  has  been 
raised  round  this  country,  and  till  the  period 
of  the  curse  shall  expire,  it  cannot  be  possess- 
ed or  cultivated ;  and  even  then,  only  by  its 
ancient  people  :  "  Therefore,  ye  mountains  of 
Israel  hear  the  word  of  the  Lord  God  ;  Thus 
saith  the  Lord  God  to  the  mountains  and  to 
the  hills,  to  the  rivers  and  to  the  valleys,  to 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    127 

the  desolate  wastes,  and  to  the  cities  that  are 
forsaken,  which  became  a  prey  and  derision 
to  the  residue  of  the  heathen  that  are  round 
about ;  therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God ; 
Surely  in  the  fire  of  my  jealousy  have  I  spo- 
ken against  the  residue  of  the  heathen,  and 
against  all  Idumea,  which  have  appointed  my 
land  into  their  possession  with  the  joy  of  all 
their  heart,  with  despiteful  minds,  to  cast  it 
out  for  a  prey.  Prophesy  therefore  concern- 
ing the  land  of  Israel,  and  say  unto  the  moun- 
tains, and  to  the  hills,  to  the  rivers,  and  to  the 
valleys,  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God ;  Behold  I 
have  spoken  in  my  jealousy,  and  in  my  fury, 
because  ye  have  borne  the  shame  of  the 
heathen.  Therefore  thus  saith  the  Lord  God, 
I  have  lifted  up  mine  hand,  surely  the  heathen 
that  are  about  you,  they  shall  bear  their  shame. 
But  ye,  O  mountains  of  Israel,  ye  shall  shoot 
forth  your  branches,  and  yield  your  fruit  to 
my  people  of  Israel ;  for  they  are  at  hand  to 
come.  For,  behold,  I  am  for  you,  and  I  will 
turn  unto  you,  and  ye  shall  be  tilled  and  sown : 
and  I  will  multiply  men  upon  you,  all  the 
house  of  Israel,  even  all  of  it :  and  the  cities 
shall  be  inhabited,  and  the  wastes  shall  be 


128  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

builded :  and  I  will  multiply  upon  you  man 
and  beast ;  and  they  shall  increase  and  bring 
fruit :  and  I  will  settle  you  after  your  old  es- 
tates, and  will  do  better  unto  you  than  at  your 
beginnings :  and  ye  shall  know  that  I  am  the 
Lord." 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.         129 


TYRE 


But  we  linger  too  long  on  the  east  of  the 
Jordan.  Now  we  cross  that  celebrated  stream. 
Our  course  lies  due  west,  having  on  our  right 
the  cedar  forests  and  the  snowy  peaks  of  Leb- 
anon, and  on  our  left  the  green  swellings  of 
the  Upper  Galilee.  Now  we  have  gained  the 
brow  of  an  eminence  which  overlooks  the 
Mediterranean  ;  we  have  been  too  late  by 
several  centuries  in  arriving  here ;  otherwise 
we  should  have  seen  a  sight,  as  the  saying  is, 
worth  seeing.  From  this  height  we  should 
have  looked  down  upon  the  walls,  the  palace 
roofs,  the  warehouses,  the  workshops,  and  the 
spacious  harbors  of  Tyre.  Here  we  should 
have  been  greeted  by  the  city's  hum,  the  rat- 
tle of  the  chariot  wheel,  and  the  anvil  of  the 
artisan  ;  and  here  we  should  have  seen  the 
seas,  to  their  utmost  verge,  whitened  by  the 
sails  of  her  ships — some  voyaging  westward, 


130  A    JOURNEY    OYER    THE 

others  returning  with  the  merchandise  of  dis- 
tant lands.  But  no  one  who  looks  from  hence 
at  this  day,  and  surveys  the  silent  shove  and 
the  solitary  seas  beneath  him,  could  imagine 
that  such  a  sight  as  we  have  now  described 
could  ever  have  been  here  beheld. 

With  EzekieFs  magnificent  prediction  of 
the  ruin  of  Tyre  we  are  all  acquainted — we 
shall  give  Volney's  version  of  the  passage  ; 
not  because  he  has  succeeded  in  transfusing 
more  of  the  spirit  and  sublimity  of  the  prophet 
into  his  translation  than  our  translators  have 
done  into  theirs — he  falls,  we  apprehend,  far 
beneath  them  ;  but  because  he  has  substituted 
the  modern  names  of  places  for  the  old  He- 
brew ones,  and  has  thus  thrown  great  light  on 
the  commerce  of  Tyre — a  commerce  which 
more  nearly  resembles  that  which  Britain  is 
carrying  on  at  this  day,  than  any  thing  else  of 
the  kind  which  the  world  has  ever  seen : — 

"  Proud  city,  that  art  situate  at  the  entry  of 
the  sea !  Tyre,  who  hast  said,  My  borders 
are  in  the  midst  of  the  seas  ;  attend  to  the 
judgments  pronounced  against  thee  !  Thou 
hast  extended  thy  commerce  to  (distant) 
islands,  among  the  inhabitants  of  (unknown) 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    131 

coasts.  Thou  makest  ships  of  fir-trees  of 
Sanir  (the  highest  summit  of  Lebanon)  ;  the 
cedars  of  Lebanon  are  masts  to  thee  ;  the 
poplars  of  Bisan,  oars.  Thy  sailors  are  seat- 
ed upon  the  box-wood  of  Cyprus,  inlaid  with 
ivory.  Thy  sails  and  streamers  are  woven 
with  fine  flax  from  Egypt ;  thy  garments  are 
dyed  with  blue  and  purple  of  Hellas  (the 
Archipelago).  Sidon  and  Arvad  send  their 
rowers  to  thee ;  Djabal  (Djebila)  her  skilful 
ship-builders  ;  thy  mathematicians  and  thy 
sages  guide  thy  barks  ;  all  the  ships  of  the  sea 
are  employed  in  thy  commerce.  The  Per- 
sian, the  Lydian,  and  Egyptian,  receive  thy 
wages  :  thy  walls  are  hung  round  with  their 
bucklers  and  their  cuirasses.  The  sons  of 
Arvad  line  thy  parapets  ;  and  thy  towers, 
guarded  by  the  Djimedeans  (a  Phoenician 
people),  glitter  with  their  brilliant  quivers. 
Every  country  desires  to  trade  with  thee. 
Tarsus  sends  to  thy  markets  iron,  tin,  and 
lead.  Yonia,  the  country  of  the  Mosques 
and  Teblis,  supply  thee  with  slaves  and 
brazen  vessels.  Armenia  sends  thee  mules, 
horses  and  horsemen.  The  Arab  of  Dedan 
(between  Aleppo  and  Damascus)  conveys  thy 


132  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

merchandise.  Many  isles  exchange  with 
thee  ivory  and  ebony.  The  Aramean  (the  Sy- 
rian) brings  thee  rubies,  purple,  embroidered 
work,  fine  linen,  coral,  and  agate.  The  chil- 
dren of  Israel  and  Judah  sell  thee  cheese, 
balm,  myrrh,  raisins,  and  oil ;  and  Damascus 
furnishes  the  wine  of  Halboun  (perhaps  Halab, 
where  there  are  still  vines),  and  fine  wool. 
The  Arabs  of  Oman  offer  to  thy  merchants 
polished  iron,  cinnamon,  and  the  aromatic 
reed  ;  and  the  Arabians  of  Dedan  bring  thee 
rich  carpets.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Desert, 
and  the  sheiks  of  Kedar,  exchange  their  lambs 
and  their  goats  for  thy  valuable  merchandise. 
The  Arabs  of  Saba  and  Rama  (in  the  Ye- 
men) enrich  thee  with  aromatics,  precious 
stones,  and  gold.  The  inhabitants  of  Haran, 
of  Kalana  (in  Mesopotamia),  and  of  Ad  ana 
(near  to  Tarsus),  the  factors  of  the  Arabs  of 
Sheba  (near  the  Dedan),  the  Assyrians,  and 
the  Chaldeans,  trade  also  with  thee,  and  sell 
thee  shawls,  garments  artfully  embroidered, 
silver,  masts,  cordage,  and  cedars ;  yea,  the 
boasted  vessels  of  Tarsus  are  in  thy  pay.  O 
Tyre  !  elated  with  the  greatness  of  thy  glory, 
and  the  immensity  of  thy  riches,  the  waves 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    133 

of  the  sea  shall  rise  up  against  thee,  and  the 
tempest  plunge  thee  to  the  bottom  of  the  wa- 
ters. Then  shall  thy  wealth  be  swallowed 
up  with  thee  ;  and  with  thee  in  one  day  shall 
perish  thy  commerce,  thy  merchants  and  cor- 
respondents, thy  sailors,  pilots,  artists,  and  sol- 
diers, and  the  numberless  people  who  dwell 
within  thy  walls.  Thy  rowers  shall  desert 
thy  vessels.  Thy  pilots  shall  sit  upon  the 
shore,  looking  mournfully  toward  the  land. 
The  nations  whom  thou  enrichedst,  the  kings 
whom  thou  didst  gratify  with  the  abundance 
of  thy  merchandise,  trembling  at  thy  ruin, 
shall  cry  bitterly  in  despair ;  they  shall  cut 
off  their  hair ;  they  shall  cast  ashes  on  their 
heads ;  they  shall  roll  in  the  dust,  and  lament 
over  thee,  saying,  What  city  shall  equal 
Tyre,  that  queen  of  the  sea !" 

Now  we  are  in  circumstances  to  feel  how 
completely  the  prediction  has  been  verified. 
Look  down,  then.  You  see  this  little  clump 
of  miserable  houses  immediately  beneath,  all 
huddled  together  on  this  low  island,  which 
scarcely  rises  above  the  surface  of  the  water. 
This  is  all  that  remains  of  the  crowning  city. 
You  see  that  basin  for  ships  on  the  north, 
12 


134  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

well-nigh  choked  up  with  sand.  There  the 
fleets  of  the  world  were  wont  to  cast  anchor. 
A  stranger  from  a  far  distant  land  passed  this 
way  not  many  years  ago.  He  tells,  that  when 
he  passed  by,  there  was  only  a  single  fishing- 
boat  in  the  harbor  of  Tyre.  On  the  sandy 
plain  which  you  perceive  running  up  on  the 
north  of  the  town  stood  Old  Tyre.  The 
army  of  Nebuchadnezzar  lay  thirteen  years 
on  that  plain.  Every  head  was  made  bald — 
every  shoulder  was  peeled  in  the  siege ;  but 
at  last  the  city  was  taken. 

Before  the  banners  of  the  Chaldean  army 
were  seen  on  the  plain  before  Tyre,  and  even 
before  Nebuchadnezzar  had  projected  the  ex- 
pedition, with  what  beauty  had  the  prophet 
described  the  result  of  the  siege  ?  "  Thus 
saith  the  Lord ;  Behold,  I  will  bring  upon 
Tyrus  Nebuchadnezzar  king  of  Babylon,  a 
king  of  kings,  from  the  north,  with  horses, 
and  with  chariots,  and  with  horsemen,  and 
companies,  and  much  people.  He  shall  make 
a  fort  against  thee,  and  cast  a -mount  against 
thee,  and  lift  up  a  buckler  against  thee,  and 
he  shall  set  engines  of  war  against  thy  walls, 
and  with  his  axes  he  shall  break  down  thy 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    135 

towers.  By  reason  of  the  abundance  of  his 
horses  their  dust  shall  cover  thee :  thy  walls 
shall  shake  at  the  noise  of  the  horsemen,  and 
of  the  wheels,  and  of  the  chariots,  when  he 
shall  enter  into  thy  gates,  as  men  enter  into  a 
city  wherein  is  made  a  breach.  And  I  will 
cause  the  noise  of  thy  songs  to  cease  ;  and 
the  sound  of  thy  harps  shall  be  no  more 
heard." 

Old  Tyre  was  now  in  ruins.  The  inhabi- 
tants had  fled  to  a  little  island  a  very  short 
distance  from  the  shore.  There  they  pro- 
ceeded to  erect  a  new  city  which  became  the 
heir  of  the  fame  and  the  vast  commerce  of  that 
which  Nebuchadnezzar  had  destroyed.  New 
Tyre  continued  to  flourish  till  the  times  of 
Alexander ;  but,  as  she  stood  in  the  way 
of  the  scheme  of  universal  conquest  which 
that  monarch  had  formed,  her  reduction  was 
necessary.  In  order  to  bring  his  engines  of 
war  close  up  to  her  walls,  he  found  it  neces- 
sary to  construct  a  mound  between  the  shore 
and  the  island  on  which  the  city  stood.  For 
this  purpose  he  chose  the  materials  which  the 
place  most  readily  offered.  These  were  the 
dust,  the  timber,  and  the  stones  of  Old  Tyre, 


136  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

which  had  lain  here  since  the  period  of  her 
destruction  by  Nebuchadnezzar  :  "  They  shall 
lay  thy  stones  and  thy  timber  and  thy  dust  in 
the  midst  of  the  water."  "  I  will  also  scrape 
her  dust  from  her."  The  arms  of  the  con- 
queror prevailed,  and  the  queen  of  the  seas 
sank.  She  was  soon  rebuilt;  but  to  suffer 
new  calamities,  and  to  come,  in  the  course  of 
ages,  into  the  miserable  state  in  which  we 
now  find  her.  "  When  you  come  to  it,"  says 
Maundrell,  "you  find  no  similitude  of  that 
glory  for  which  it  was  so  renowned  in  ancient 
times,  and  which  the  Prophet  Ezekiel  des- 
cribes. On  the  north  side  of  it,  it  has  an  old 
Turkish  ungarrisoned  castle;  besides  which 
you  see  nothing  here  but  a  mere  Bable  of 
broken  walls,  pillars,  vaults,  &c,  there  being 
not  so  much  as  one  entire  house  left.  Its 
present  inhabitants  are  only  a  few  poor 
wretches,  harboring  themselves  in  the  vaults, 
and  subsisting  chiefly  upon  fishing." 

Before  we  quit  the  eminence  where  we 
now  stand,  and  from  which  we  look  down 
on  the  shadow  of  Tyre,  let  us  observe  how 
God  has  here  inflicted  his  threatenings  to  the 
very  letter.     Here  is  the  site  of  Old  Tyre,  a 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    137 

sandy  plain  with  the  waves  tumbling  over  it : 
"  When  I  shall  bring  up  the  deep  upon  thee, 
and  great  waters  shall  cover  thee;  I  will  make 
thee  a  terror,  and  thou  shalt  be  no  more: 
though  thou  be  sought  for,  yet  shalt  thou  never 
be  found  again,  saith  the  Lord  God"  Adjoin- 
ing the  peninsula  on  which  the  miserable  vil- 
lage beneath  us  is  seated,  you  perceive  what 
you  take  to  be  dark  rocks  rising  out  of  the 
waves;  these  are  very  convenient  for  the 
fishermen,  who  here  spread  their  nets  in  order 
to  be  dried.  These  are  not  rocks  ;  they  are 
the  stones  of  Tyre  tumbled  into  the  sea  by 
her  successive  destroyers  :  "J  will  make  thee 
like  the  top  of  a  rock ;  thou  shalt  be  a  place 
to  spread  nets  upon."  Who  now  remembers 
this  great  city  whose  fall  resounded  over  the 
seas,  and  caused  this  song  of  lamentation  to 
be  heard  among  its  isles— a  song  which  the 
prophet  had  prepared  beforehand,  and  taught 
the  kings  and  cities  of  the  earth  to  sing,  when 
the  mournful  event  should  have  come  ?  We 
quote  part  of  this  hymn  of  lamentation  and 
depart :— "  Thus  saith  the  Lord  God  to  Tyrus  ; 
Shall  not  the  isles  shake  at  the  sound  of  thy 
fall?  Then  all  the  princes  of  the  sea  shall 
12* 


138  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

come  down  from  their  thrones,  and  lay  away 
their  robes,  and  put  off  their  broidered  gar- 
ments :  they  shall  sit  upon  the  ground,  and 
shall  tremble  at  every  moment,  and  be  aston- 
ished at  thee.  And  they  shall  take  up  a  lam- 
entation for  thee,  and  say  to  thee,  How  art 
thou  destroyed,  that  wast  inhabited  of  sea- 
faring men,  the  renowned  city,  which  wast 
strong  in  the  sea,  she  and  her  inhabitants, 
which  cause  their  terror  to  be  on  all  that 
haunt  it." 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.*      139 


JUDEA. 


Now  we  turn  our  face  towards  a  more  glo- 
rious land  than  any  we  have  yet  traversed — 
the  land  of  Israel.  What  is  it  which  other 
countries  glory  in  in  which  this  land  does  not 
far  excel  them  ?  Is  it  variety  and  beauty  of 
scenery  1  This  was  the  home  of  beauty.  It 
was  garnished,  by  Him  who  made  the  earth, 
with  every  attribute  of  grandeur,  every  form 
of  loveliness — the  tall  mountain,  rising  proudly 
to  heaven  in  its  snowy  mantle — the  little  hill, 
on  whose  humble  summit  the  heavens  delight- 
ed to  pour  down  their  dew — the  broad  plain, 
whose  bosom,  investured  with  gardens,  pas- 
tures, and  forests,  was  spread  out  to  heaven 
— the  little  dell,  which  drew  its  veil  of  woods 
and  rocks  close  around  it,  as  if  it  feared  lest 
its  beauty  should  be  seen  by  the  eye  of  man 
— the  river,  which  made  glad  the  valleys — 
the  streamlet,  which  made  the  ravine  vocal 


140    '  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

with  its  music — the  naked  crag — the  richly 
terraced  hill — the  billowy  shore,  with  its 
white  sails — the  waveless  lake,  with  its  fringe 
of  olives  and  vines — its  ramparted  cities — its 
palm-embowered  homes.  But  if  this  land  is 
entitled  to  claim  a  superiority  above  every 
other  on  the  score  of  its  physical  beauty, 
much  more  is  it  entitled  to  do  so  on  the 
ground  of  its  moral  importance  and  grandeur. 
Were  other  countries  the  abode  of  science? 
— the  lamp  of  revelation  burned  here.  Have 
other  countries  laid  the  world  under  obliga- 
tions by  the  volumes  of  poetry  and  philosophy 
which  they  produced  ? — here  the  Bible  was 
written.  Have  other  countries  been  the  seat 
of  important  transactions  ? — here  the  work  of 
redemption  was  wrought ;  that  mighty  event 
which  links  together  the  counsels  of  the  past 
eternity  with  the  glories  of  the  coming  one. 
Have  other  lands  been  the  abode  of  sages  and 
wise  men  ? — here  prophets  lived — here  "God 
manifest  in  the  flesh"  sojourned— dwelt  beneath 
its  roofs,  walked  by  its  shores,  preached  the 
Gospel  in  its  cities,  and  prayed  upon  its  moun- 
tains. Such  is  the  renown  of  this  land — a  re- 
nown which  can  neither  be  increased  nor  di- 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY*         141 

minished  by  any  event  which  may  hencefor- 
ward take  place  within  it.  But  why  do  we 
linger  at  a  distance  ? — let  us  draw  nigh.  As 
we  approach  its  border,  we  can  discern  no 
signs  of  its  ancient  beauty  and  importance. 
The  naked  peaks  of  its  mountains  are  before 
us,  their  sides  marked  by  the  ghastly  scars 
which  the  hand  of  Ruin  has  impressed  upon 
them ;  its  valleys  are  open  to  the  eye,  but  they 
are  lovely  no  longer.  Everywhere  on  its  plains 
the  mounds  of  its  buried  cities  are  seen  rising 
dimly,  darkening  still  more  the  aspect  of  this 
once  happy  and  beauteous  land.  The  olive 
mourns ;  for  the  hand  that  tended  it  has  long 
been  absent.  The  vine  languishes  ;  for  it 
hears  no  more  the  songs  of  its  happy  children. 
The  cedar  fears  to  display  its  stately  propor- 
tions, as  of  old,  on  the  sides  of  Lebanon— its 
mighty  arms  bend  beneath  the  doom  that 
presses  upon  them.  Ruin  has  overwhelmed 
all  things,  and  sits,  as  on  a  throne,  on  these 
hoary  mountains  in  stern  majesty. 

The  prophets  foretold  the  desolation  of  this 
land ;  and  with  such  a  fulness  of  particulars, 
and  variety  of  metaphors  and  images,  as  puts 
it  out  of  our  power  to  quote  their  words  here. 


142  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

We  would  refer  the  reader  to  the  prophets 
themselves ;  and  the  more  he  examines  and 
compares,  the  more  will  he  be  satisfied  that 
there  is  a  perfect  accordance  between  the 
predicted  and  the  existing  state  of  this  coun- 
try. The  various  prophecies  regarding  it  may 
be  classed  under  the  three  following  heads : 
1st,  The  desolation  of  its  soil ;  2d,  The  ruin 
of  its  cities ;  3d,  The  expatriation  of  its  peo- 
ple. 

We  stand  on  the  northern  border  of  the 
land.  Behind  us  are  the  mountains  of  Leba- 
non ;  they  run  across  from  the  eastern  to  the 
western  border  of  the  country.  We  stand 
towards  the  eastern  side  of  the  land.  Here, 
from  the  mighty  trunk  of  Lebanon,  runs  off. 
at  right  angles,  a  branch  of  hills,  which,  trav- 
ersing the  country  in  a  southward  direction, 
divides  it  into  two  nearly  equal  halves.  As 
we  look  along,  summit  rises  after  summit,  like 
the  successive  links  of  a  chain  designed  to 
bind  together  the  snowy  peaks  that  guard  the 
country  on  the  north  to  the  burning  sands 
that  defend  it  on  the  south.  The  central  line 
of  summits  is  the  highest.  Alongside  of  it, 
and  on  either  hand,  run  successive  mountain- 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    143 

ous  lines,  which  sink  lower  and  lower  as  they 
recede  from  the  central  one,  till  at  last  the 
hills  disappear,  and  the  country  spreads  out 
into  an  extensive  plain.  From  the  bottom  of 
the  last  and  lowest  line  of  heights  on  the  west, 
the  land  slopes  gradually  down  to  the  shore 
of  the  Mediterranean ;  but  on  the  east,  the 
hills,  as  if  unwilling  to  give  way,  maintain 
their  height  to  the  very  brink  of  the  Jordan 
valley  ;  and  then,  stooping  abruptly  down, 
they  form  into  dark  overhanging  masses,  as 
if  they  were  desirous  of  covering  with  their 
shadows  the  desolate  and  ruined  bosom  of  the 
plain  beneath  them. 

We  are  on  our  way  southward;  but  as  yet 
we  have  not  fairly  disentangled  ourselves 
from  the  roots  of  Lebanon.  The  numerous 
streams  which  that  mountain  sends  down  to 
refresh  the  plains,  make  the  country  here 
look  much  greener  than  we  may  expect  to 
find  it  when  we  have  gone  farther  to  the 
south.  We  are  now  amongst  the  hills  of 
Galilee.  They  are  of  considerable  size.  We 
alight  occasionally  on  an  Arab  village,  with 
patches  of  cultivation  adjoining ;  but  the  gen- 
eral covering  both  of  hill  and  valley  is  a  lux- 


144  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

uriant  herbage,  which  grows  neglected.  On 
our  left,  adjoining  the  Jordan,  is  the  region  of 
Csesarea  Philippi — now  a  territory  of  swamps 
and  boggy  ground.  On  our  right,  adjoining 
the  sea-shore,  are  the  "fat"  valleys  of  Asher, 
overgrown  with  thistles  so  intolerably  rank, 
that  the  traveller  is  scarce  able  to  force  his 
way  through  them,  even  on  horseback.  No- 
thing, we  may  here  remark,  is  a  more  com- 
mon production  of  this  land  ;  its  hill  sides  are 
covered  with  briers,  its  valleys  are  choked 
up  with  thistles.  The  vine  did  not  mantle  it 
more  completely  of  old  than  do  these  useless 
plants  now.  "  Why  should  I  ascend  Mount 
Tabor,"  said  a  person  who  had  visited  Pales- 
tine, to  the  Deputation  from  the  Church  of 
Scotland — "  why  should  I  ascend  Mount  Ta- 
bor, to  see  a  country  of  thorns  ?"  He  might 
have  done  so,  if  only  to  behold  more  exten- 
sively, with  his  own  eyes,  the  fulfilment  of  the 
prediction  :  "  All  the  land  shall  become  briers 
and  thorns.  And  now  go  to,  I  will  tell  you 
what  I  will  do  to  my  vineyard :  I  will  lay  it 
waste ;  it  shall  not  be  pruned  nor  digged,  but 
there  shall  come  up  briers  and  thorns." 

We  go  forward.     Now  climb  we  the  hill — 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    145 

now  rest  we  in  the  valley.  We  force  our 
way  through  the  long  grass,  or  the  tall  this- 
tles ;  paths  here  there  are  none  :  "  The  high- 
ways lie  desolate ;  the  wayfaring  man  ceaseth." 
Now  we  are  amongst  the  mountains  of  Naza- 
reth, with  their  clumps  of  stunted  oaks.  Ap- 
proach the  edge  of  this  bare  hill,  and  look 
down  into  the  valley ;  it  is  circular  as  a  cup, 
and  at  its  bottom  reposes  a  little  white-look- 
ing town.  These  are  the  remains  of  Naza- 
reth. There  is  scarce  a  pile  of  grass  or  a 
green  leaf  to  be  seen  on  the  rocky  sides  of 
the  mountains  that  inclose  it.  Over  these 
chalky  hills,  at  a  distance  of  about  six  miles 
to  the  north-east,  is  the  modern  representative 
of  Cana ;  while  amongst  the  mountains  on 
the  west  are  the  ruins  of  Zippor,  and  other 
towns. 

But  what  mountain  is  this  in  front,  directly 
in  our  path,  which  rises  like  a  garland  among 
the  hills  of  Palestine  ?  How  proudly  does  it 
exalt  the  symmetry  of  its  form  and  the  green 
beauty  of  its  summit  amid  the  desolate 
wastes  around  it !  This  is  Tabor.  At  its  foot, 
stretched  far  and  wide,  from  the  gleaming 
waters  of  Galilee  on  the  one  hand,  to  the 
13 


146  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

wooded  heights  which  border  the  plain  of 
Acre  on  the  other,  is  the  Valley  of  Esdraelon 
— a  vast  expanse  of  uncultivated  fields  and 
ruined  cities,  deserted  and  solitary  as  the 
desert.  The  cities  are  wasted  without  inhab- 
itant, and  the  houses  without  man,  and  the 
land  is  utterly  desolate.  The  Lord  has  re- 
moved men  far  away,  and  there  is  a  great 
forsaking  in  the  midst  of  the  land. 

We  descend  the  beauteous  Tabor,  and,  go- 
ing straight  across  the  plain,  we  leave  on  our 
left  the  unblessed  hills  of  Gilboa,  and  strike 
into  the  mountains  of  Samaria.  The  pros- 
pects that  open  on  us  amid  these  hills  are 
softer  than  we  had  expected  to  meet  here — 
green  slopes  and  woods  of  olives ;  so  that, 
were  this  region  peopled  and  cultivated,  nei- 
ther of  which  it  is  at  this  day,  its  beauty 
and  produce  would  exceed  all  calculation. 
Threading  the  valleys  of  Samaria  for  some 
time  in  this  manner,  we  come  at  length  to  a 
more  open  space.  We  have  now  before  us  a 
circular  mount,  with  fruitful  valleys  running 
round  it,  and  these  encompassed  with  not  un- 
fruitful hills.  The  central  hill  is  decorated 
with  a  profusion  of  marble  ruins,  whose  ap- 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.         147 

pearance  indicates  that  they  once  formed  part 
of  sumptuous  edifices.  This  mount  was  the 
seat  of  Samaria,  the  capital  of  the  Ten  Tribes. 
Its  foundations  are  now  poured  down  into  the 
valley,  and  the  "glorious  flower"  on  the  head 
of  "  the  fat  valleys"  of  Israel  is  faded. 

From  the  site  of  Samaria  a  mule-track  leads 
over  a  range  of  barren  hills  in  front.  Trav- 
ersing these  mountains,  we  descend  into  the 
Yale  of  Shechem.  Here  is  the  well  beside 
which  Christ  discoursed  to  the  woman  of  Sa- 
maria, and  the  town  within  whose  gates  he 
was  kindly  welcomed.  The  curse  which  has 
fallen  so  heavily  on  all  around  would  seem  to 
have  spared  the  beauty  of  this  region.  We 
would  linger  long  amid  its  groves  of  orange 
and  fig-trees,  its  streams,  and  its  rich  cultiva- 
tion, did  our  time  permit ;  but  we  must  leave 
it.  Passing  between  Ebal  and  Gerizim,  we 
bid  it  adieu ;  and  in  doing  so,  we  leave  behind 
us  the  last  scene  of  beauty  we  are  to  see  in 
this  land. 

Here  ends  the  region  of  Samaria.  We 
pass  over  the  boundary,  and  enter  on  the  in- 
heritance of  Ephraim.  At  this  point  begins 
the  more  awful   desolation   of  the  country. 


148  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

We  are  now  amid  towering  mountains,  and 
we  may  journey  for  miles  together  without 
seeing  a  single  atom  of  soil  upon  their  sides. 
No  language  can  adequately  describe  the 
frightful  sterility  of  this  region ;  every  trace 
of  cultivation,  every  sign  of  the  dwelling  of 
man,  has  disappeared.  Not  that  there  are  not 
a  few  wretched  inhabitants  among  these  hills, 
but  the  aspect  of  the  country  is  so  desolate 
and  appalling,  that  one  wonders  where  even 
a  bird  of  the  heavens,  or  an  animal  of  any 
kind,  is  here  to  find  sustenance.  The  Lord 
has  made  the  land  empty  and  waste ;  he  has 
turned  it  upside  down  ;  he  has  scattered 
abroad  the  inhabitants  thereof :  "  The  land 
shall  be  utterly  emptied  and  utterly  spoiled ; 
for  the  Lord  hath  spoken  this  word"  But 
though  such  is  now  the  aspect  of  this  part  of 
the  country,  far  otherwise  was  it  in  former 
times.  When  the  "  mighty  tribe  of  Ephraim" 
occupied  it,  it  was  a  magnificent  region  of 
hanging  gardens.  Every  mountain  then 
equalled  in  beauty,  and  greatly  exceeded  in 
extent,  the  far-famed  gardens  of  Babylon. 
Terrace  rose  above  terrace,  covered  with  a 
profusion  of  vines  and  olives,  to  the  cultiva- 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    149 

tion  of  which  this  region  was  peculiarly  de- 
voted ;  and  here,  to  this  day,  on  the  sides  of 
the  now  naked  hills,  are  the  remains  of  the 
stone  walls  which  formed  these  terraces.  We 
pursue  our  way,  on  a  rocky  track,  amid  moun- 
tains of  brass,  the  path  climbing  now  over 
their  summit,  now  winding  round  their  base, 
now  lying  along  the  very  edge  of  frightful 
precipices,  and  now  descending  over  rugged 
rocks.  Journeying  in  this  manner,  we  arrive 
on  the  high  plains  of  Bethel.  We  halt  beside 
its  ruins— now  heaps  of  rubbish,  for  Bethel 
has  come  to  nought— to  survey  the  wide  pros- 
pect which  the  place  commands.  Here  Abra- 
ham and  Lot  stood  when  they  chose  the  quar- 
ter of  the  country  to  which  each  was  to  re- 
move his  flocks.  This  gloomy  valley  beneath 
us,  with  the  dull  stream  creeping  sluggishly 
along  its  dark  bosom,  wns  the  region  which 
Lot  chose  ;  but  then  it  was  rich  in  streams, 
and  pastures,  and  cities ;  it  was  well  watered 
everywhere,  even  as  the  garden  of  ^  Lord. 
We  have  yet  twelve  miles  to  the  capital, 
where  our  journey  is  to  terminate.  We  travel 
along,  amidst  scenery  which  grows  only  the 
more  desolate  the  nearer  we  come  to  Jerusa- 


150  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

lem.    By  the  side  of  the  path,  and  in  the  deso- 
late valleys  which  open  to  our  view  as  we 
pass  on,  are  numerous  ruins.     On  some  of 
these  sites  the  Arab  has  erected  his  hut ;  oth- 
ers are  entirely  forsaken.      Now  we  rest  by 
the  Fountain  of  Beer ;  now  we  go  forward. 
The  naked  peaks  which  environ  the  metrop- 
olis of  Judea  at  length  come  in  sight.     We 
hasten  forward — the  path  leads  us  to  the  sum- 
mit of  a  rocky  eminence — and,  lo  !  the  city  is 
before  us.     "  How  doth  she  sit  solitary  that 
was  full  of  people  !"      Notwithstanding  all 
that  we  have  read  of  the  past  misfortunes  of 
Jerusalem,  and  the  ruin  in  which  she  is  now 
sunk,  we  bring  with  us,   even  to  her  very 
gates,  all  those  ideas  of  magnificence  which 
we  have  been  led  to  form  by  the  history  of 
her  former  grandeur.     We  are  unable  to  lay 
these  ideas  aside  in  a  moment,  and  to  accept 
of  this   dull,   miserable,  and   forlorn-looking 
town  in  the  room  of  the  gorgeous  picture  our 
imaginaijons  had  conceived.     We  are  inex- 
pressibly disappointed  and  grieved.    We  pass 
not  now  within  her  gates,  but  crossing  the 
plain  on  the  north  side  of  the  city,  which  is 
covered  with  the  foundations  of  the  Jerusa- 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    151 

lem  of  other  days,  though  without  the  walls  of 
the  modern  town,  we  traverse  the  deep  Val- 
ley of  Jehoshaphat,  with  its  gray  rocks  and 
its  dry  torrent  bed,  and  climbing  the  sides  of 
the  Mount  of  Olives,  we  sit  down  on  its  sum- 
mit, to  take  a  last  look  of  this  land. 

Now  we  look  abroad  over  the  wide  deso- 
lation of  Judea.  Jerusalem  is  at  our  feet. 
With  what  accuracy  hath  Tasso  described 
the  position  of  this  city,  as  respects  the  sur- 
rounding localities  ! — 

By  east,  among  the  dusty  valleys,  glide 

The  silver  streams  of  Jordan's  crystal  flood. 
By  west,  the  midland  sea,  with  boundaries  tied 

Of  sandy  shores,  where  Joppa  whilom  stood. 
By  north,  Samaria  stands  ;  and  on  that  side 

The  golden  calf  was  reared  in  Bethel  wood. 
Bethlehem  by  south,  where  Christ  incarnate  was — 

A  pearl  in  steel — a  diamond  set  in  brass. 

On  our  north  is  the  desolate  mountain  region 
which  we  traversed  on  our  w7ay  thither,  and 
of  which,  therefore,  we  need  not  now  speak. 
Behind  us,  on  the  east,  are  the  stupendous  and 
naked  piles  which  separate  Jerusalem  from 
the  Valley  of  the  Jordan.  That  valley  ap- 
pears but  at  a  little  distance  ;  it  looks  as  if  it 


152  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

were  buried  beneath  the  mountains  of  Judea 
on  the  one  hand,  and  those  of  Moab  on  the 
other.  It  exhibits  no  trace  of  its  former  cul- 
tivation ;  it  is  scathed  and  blackened,  and 
bears  on  its  bosom  the  ruins  of  its  cities — 
Jericho  and  others.  On  the  south  it  is  shut  in 
by  the  waters  of  that  mysterious  lake  which 
covers  the  Valley  of  Siddim  and  the  Cities  of 
the  Plain,  and  which  is  here  distinctly  visible. 
On  the  south  is  the  hilly  region  which  fell  to 
the  lot  of  the  tribe  of  Judah.  Here,  "  bind- 
ing his  foal  unto  the  vine,  and  his  ass's  colt 
unto  the  choice  vine,  he  washed  his  garments 
in  wine,  and  his  clothes  in  the  blood  of 
grapes."  The  region  was  equally  celebrated 
for  its  milk  as  for  its  wine  ;  and  vine-stocks 
are  still  found  here  of  such  size  as  to  justify 
the  renown  this  part  of  the  land  enjoyed  as  a 
region  of  vineyards.  All  the  hills  and  valleys 
of  this  extensive  tract,  south  to  the  hills  of 
Hebron,  are  covered  with  the  ruins  of  towns 
to  an  extent  which  no  one  could  credit  who 
has  not  actually  traversed  it.  Now,  last  of 
all,  we  turn  to  the  west.  Here  one  rounded 
summit  rises  behind  another  as  far  as  the  eye 
can  look,  with  patches  of  cultivation  in  some 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    153 

of  the  valleys,  and  nothing  to  shade  the  sides 
of  the  hills,  save  occasionally  a  wild  fig-tree. 
Beyond  these  mountains  is  the  Plain  of  Sharon 
— a  vast  garden  in  former  days — a  wilderness 
now.  Its  face  is  made  up  here  of  sand,  there 
of  long  grass,  and  there  of  swamps,  inter- 
spersed with  a  little  cultivation — one  or  two 
modern  towns,  half  in  ruins,  and  abundance 
of  ancient  cities,  wholly  so.  What  need  of 
more  evidence  to  show  that  the  prophecy  is 
fulfilled :  "  Your  land  shall  be  desolate,  and 
your  cities  waste  V 

The  people,  not  less  than  the  land  of  Judea, 
were  the  objects  of  prophecy ;  and  on  them 
not  less  than  on  the  country,  have  these  pro- 
phecies been  fulfilled.  We  find  in  Palestine 
at  this  day  few  men,  and  these  are  not  her 
ancient  inhabitants,  but  strangers.  On  the 
former  a  sentence  of  expatriation  was  long 
since  pronounced ;  and  who  is  so  ignorant  as 
not  to  know  that  it  has  been  executed  ?  For 
eighteen  centuries  the  Jew  has  been  an  exile  ; 
and  during  that  period  he  has  trodden  with  a 
weary  foot,  and  with  a  heart  still  more  weary, 
every  country  under  heaven,  from  the  islands 
of  Japan  in  the  east  to  the  forests  of  America 


154  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

in  the  far-distant  west :  And  wherever  we 
meet  a  Jew,  there  we  behold  a  monument  of 
the  truth  of  prophecy  :  "  And  it  shall  come  to 
pass,  that  as  the  Lord  rejoiced  over  you  to  do 
you  good,  and  to  multiply  you  ;  so  the  Lord 
will  rejoice  over  you  to  destroy  you,  and  to 
bring  you  to  nought ;  and  ye  shall  be  plucked 
from  off  the  land  whither  thou  goest  to  pos- 
sess it.  And  the  Lord  shall  scatter  thee  among 
all  people,  from  the  one  end  of  the  earth  even 
unto  the  other  ;  and  there  thou  shalt  serve 
other  gods,  which  neither  thou  nor  thy  fath- 
ers have  known,  even  wood  and  stone.  And 
among  these  nations  shalt  thou  find  no  ease, 
neither  shall  the  soul  of  thy  foot  have  rest : 
but  the  Lord  shall  give  thee  there  a  trembling 
heart,  and  failing  of  eyes,  and  sorrow  of  mind : 
and  thy  life  shall  hang  in  doubt  before  thee  ; 
and  thou  shalt  fear  day  and  night,  and  shalt 
have  none  assurance  of  thy  life." 

Thus  have  we  gone  round  the  region  of 
fulfilled  prophecy  ;  and  here  we  lay  aside  our 
pilgrim  staff. 


REGION    OF    FULFILLED    PROPHECY.        155 


CONCLUSION 


Let  us  now  look  back  on  the  track  over 
which  we  have  gone.  Which  of  its  cities, 
doomed  to  fall,  now  survives?  Is  it  Babylon? 
— then  what  mean  these  desolate  mounds  on 
the  Plain  of  Chaldea  ?  Is  it  the  cities  of  Edom, 
or  of  Moab,  or  of  Judea? — then  what  mean 
these  ruins  with  which  the  lands  east  and  west 
of  the  Jordan  are  overspread  ?  Which  of 
these  countries,  doomed  to  desolation,  is  now 
fertile  and  flourishing  ?  or  which  of  the  na- 
tions, concerning  which  it  was  said  that  they 
should  be  cut  off,  remains  to  this  day  ?  The 
Jews  are  still  a  people  ;  but  the  Edomites,  the 
Moabites,  and  the  Ammonites  have  perished. 
Consider,  moreover,  that  what  the  prophets 
pronounced  concerning  these  lands  was  not 
simply  a  sentence  of  general  desolation — they 
particularized  the  nature  of  the  ruin  of  each. 
Regarding  one  country,  they  said  that  its  soil 


156  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

should  be  destroyed  ;  regarding  another,  that, 
retaining  all  the  riches  of  its  soil,  it  should 
cease  to  be  cultivated.  Of  one  city,  the  pro- 
phets foretold  that  it  should  be  so  completely 
destroyed  that  its  site  should  not  be  found  ; 
of  another,  that  it  should  be  tenanted  by  owls ; 
of  a  third,  that  serpents  and  wild  beasts  should 
lodge  in  its  ruins ;  and  of  a  fourth,  that  it  should 
be  a  stable  for  camels.  Of  one  people,  it  was 
foretold  that  they  should  become  exiles ;  of 
another,  that  they  should  be  cut  off  forever. 
Consider,  also,  that  these  predictions  were 
given  many  ages  before  their  fulfilment ;  and 
that,  as  regards  many  of  the  threatenings  of 
the  prophets,  they  were  given  when  the  na- 
tions by  whom  they  were  to  be  executed  were 
either  very  insignificant,  or  not  in  existence  at 
all.  And  consider,  last  of  all,  the  extreme  im- 
probability of  what  was  foretold.  Suppose  any 
one  were  to  foretell  that  a  day  should  come, 
when  Europe  should  cease  to  be  inhabited — 
when  nothing  should  be  seen  on  the  fields  of 
Scotland  and  England  but  a  few  shepherds 
with  their  flocks — when  a  sail  should  never 
be  seen  at  the  mouth  of  the  Mersey,  nor  a 
war  steamer  in  the  docks  of  Plvmonth — when 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    157 

there  should  not  be  a  single  inhabitant  in  the 
cities  of  London  and  Paris — when  the  soil  of 
France  should  be  so  wasted,  that  a  few  flocks 
should  be  unable  to  subsist  on  it — when  ru- 
ined heaps  only  should  stud  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine — when,  in  short,  all  the  cities  through- 
out Europe  should  be  abandoned  to  ruin,  and 
occupied,  some  in  one  way,  some  in  another. 
This  would  be  deemed  a  most  unlikely  event. 
Any  one  setting  up  for  a  prophet,  would  never 
be  so  mad  as  to  risk  his  reputation  by  select- 
ing, as  the  subject  of  his  random  prediction, 
the  most  unlikely  of  all  unlikely  events ;  and 
yet  the  desolation  of  the  countries  we  have 
gove  over  was  far  more  unlikely  when  it  was 
foretold.  Men  in  that  age  had  had  no  experi- 
ence of  countries  desolated  ;  and  even  though 
they  had  had,  they  would  never  have  conjec- 
tured that  such  a  calamity  would  ever  over- 
take these  countries — the  earliest  seats  of  pop- 
ulation, and  containing,  moreover,  the  finest 
cities  and  the  richest  soils  on  the  surface  of 
the  earth.  Assuredly,  it  would  have  been 
thought  that  these  would  be  the  last  countries 
to  be  abandoned  ;  especially  when,  abandon- 
14 


158  A    JOURNEY    OVER    THE 

ing  them,  men  had  to  seek  new  homes,  in 
lands  then  covered,  as  our  own  was,  with 
swamps  and  impenetrable  forests. 

We  ask,  too,  whether  the  sagacity  of  a  mor- 
tal could  have  foreseen  all  these  changes? 
The  sagacity  of  a  mortal  is  not  able  to  fore- 
see the  changes  which  may  befall  himself 
during  his  short  life  on  earth;  how  then  could 
he  have  foreseen  all  these  changes  ?  Just 
think  of  what  would  have  been  required  in 
order  to  foretell  the  fall  of  but  one  of  those 
cities  that  now  lie  mouldering  on  the  wilds  of 
Syria.  All  the  causes  which  were  to  operate 
in  the  world,  and  in  the  manner  in  which  all 
the  beings,  living,  or  yet  to  live,  were  to  act, 
between  the  time  when  the  prediction  was 
given  forth  and  the  time  when  it  was  to  be 
fufilled — all,  we  say,  must  have  been  foreseen 
before  the  future  overthrow  of  even  one  of 
these  cities  could  have  been  foretold  with 
certainty.  No  reasoning  is  needed  to  con- 
vince us  that  this  lies  not  within  the  scope  of 
finite  sagacity. 

But,  in  the  last  place,  may  not  all  these  oc- 
currences, all  this  singular  agreement  between 


REGION  OF  FULFILLED  PROPHECY.    159 

prophecies,  countless  in  number,  and  the  facts 
we  have  adduced,  have  been  the  result  of 
chance  ?  The  man  who  could  propose  such 
a  solution,  must  be  driven  to  the  last  resort. 
Could  chance  have  formed  the  steam-engine  ? 
What  would  be  thought  of  the  intellect  of  that 
man  who  could  believe  that  the  marvellous 
piece  of  mechanism  we  have  just  named  was 
brought  into  being  by  an  artisan  simply  throw- 
ing a  few  iron  rods  together  ?  But  what  opin- 
ion are  we  to  form  of  the  intellect  of  the  man 
who  could  believe — I  do  not  mean  merely 
profess,  but  seriously  believe — that  the  mag- 
nificent scheme  of  prophecy  which  the  Bible 
presents,  embracing,  as  it  does,  the  history  of 
the  world  from  the  days  of  Daniel  to  the  end 
of  time,  was  formed  by  a  few  impostors  throw- 
ing together  a  number  of  hap-hazard  predic- 
tions ?  No  ;  there  is  only  one  conclusion  to 
which  the  evidence  we  have  adduced  tends, 
and  to  that  conclusion  it  tends  inevitably  and 
overwhelmingly,  namely,  that  the  Bible  is  the 
Word  of  God.  And  it  is  utterly  useless  in 
any  man  to  cry  out  for  more  proofs,  or  strong- 
er arguments.    We  state  the  sober  truth,  and 


160  A    JOURNEY,    ETC. 

we  state  it  in  the  soberest  terms,  when  we 
say,  that  the  man  who  will  not  believe  Moses 
and  the  prophets,  on  the  evidence  we  have 
adduced,  would  not  believe  them  although 
they  should  rise  from  the  dead. 


APPENDIX 


EXCAVATIONS  ON  THE  SITE  OF  NINEVEH. 

The  labors  of  M.  Botta  on  the  site  of  Nine- 
veh have  been  rewarded  with  the  richest  dis- 
coveries, and  have  fulfilled,  sooner  than  the 
author  looked  for,  the  anticipations  expressed 
in  the  foregoing  pages,  that  many  a  new  and 
surprising  proof  of  the  truth  of  the  Bible  has 
yet  to  be  drawn  from  the  ruins  of  the  scrip- 
tural cities  of  the  East.  The  author  begs  to 
append  to  this  edition  of  his  little  work  a  short 
account  of  the  explorations  which  have  led  to 
such  surprising  results.  M.  Botta  was  consul 
for  the  French  at  Mosul ;  and  having  contin- 
ually before  his  eyes  the  green  mounds  of  the 
fallen  Nineveh,  became  desirous — as  who,  in 
his  circumstances,  would  not  ? — of  ascertain- 
ing, by  actual  inspection,  whether  these 
mounds  contained  any  memorials  of  the  gran- 
deur or  the  arts  of  the  lost  city.  He  com- 
menced operations  on  the  largest  mass — that 
14* 


162  APPENDIX. 

to  which  tradition  has  assigned  the  honor  of 
being  the  tomb  of  Ninus,  the  founder  of  the 
Assyrian  Empire.  Here  he  found  nought  but 
insignificant  fragments  of  bricks.  He  next 
opened  a  trench  in  the  side  of  a  mound,  on 
the  summit  of  which  stands  the  village  of 
Khorsabad.  Before  proceeding  far,  he  dis- 
covered, to  his  unspeakable  delight,  that  the 
mass  on  which  he  was  engaged  was  the  cov- 
ering of  an  ancient  Assyrian  edifice.  The 
French  government  lent  its  aid,  and  the  exca- 
vations of  M.  Botta  were  continued,  till  at 
last  the  entire  structure,  which  appears  to 
form  only  a  third  of  the  original  building,  was 
laid  open.  This  edifice  is  the  most  interest- 
ing of  all  that  lie  entombed  on  this  celebrated 
site,  being,  as  is  supposed,  the  palace  of  the 
Assyrian  kings.  It  is  rich  in  sculptures  and 
inscriptions  ;  and  the  marvel  is,  how  so  noble 
a  monument,  which  still  shone,  even  though 
ruined  and  deserted,  with  the  embellishments 
of  the  most  exquisite  art,  could  have  come  to 
be  so  completely  buried  in  the  earth.  How- 
soever it  happened,  we  behold  in  this  the  ful- 
filment of  the  prophecy  :  "  I  will  make  thy 
grave." 


APPENDIX.  163 

But  Nineveh,  in  this  instance,  has  returned 
from  her  grave  ;  and  we  may  now  survey  the 
halls  where  princes  dwelt,  and  the  trophies 
of  an  art  that  was  the  pride  of  that  age  doubt- 
less, as  it  is  worthy  of  being  the  admiration 
of  this.  Of  this  palace,  the  front,  the  southern 
facade,  and  fifteen  halls,  with  their  corres- 
ponding esplanades,  have  been  cleared.  Six 
bulls  of  colossal  size,  as  well  as  figures  of 
men,  also  colossal,  strangling  lions  in  their 
arms,  adorn  the  front  of  the  edifice.  A  gate- 
way of  vast  dimensions  admits  into  the  inte- 
rior ;  and  the  two  central  bulls  are  so  placed 
as  to  appear  to  form  the  pillars  of  the  grand 
entrance.  These  sculptures  are  of  great 
beauty,  and  as  fresh  as  if  executed  yesterday. 

On  entering  the  halls  of  the  disinterred  pal- 
ace, we  find  that  the  walls  are  cased  with 
alabaster  slabs,  and  covered  with  sculptures 
and  inscriptions.  Two  rows  of  bass-reliefs 
run  round  each  chamber,  and  underneath  each 
row  are  some  twenty  lines  of  writing  in  the 
arrow-headed  character  and  Babylonian  lan- 
guage. The  subjects  of  the  bass-reliefs  pos- 
sess great  variety  as  well  as  interest.  They 
are  taken  chiefly  from  the  military  art,  and, 


164  APPENDIX. 

as  is  supposed,  are  historical — sieges,  naval 
manoeuvres,  triumphs,  single  combats — in 
short,  whatever  brilliant  exploit  fell  out  to 
illustrate  the  annals  of  the  reigning  king,  ap- 
pears to  have  been  immediately  transferred 
to  the  walls  of  his  palace.  The  writing  un- 
derneath, in  all  likelihood,  is  a  description  of 
the  scenes  exhibited  in  the  sculptures,  and 
form,  in  fact,  a  portion  of  the  historical  rec- 
ords of  a  kingdom.  The  inscriptions  on  the 
wralls  of  this  palace  comprise  a  greater 
amount  of  writing  in  the  arrow-headed  char- 
acter, than  all  the  inscriptions  of  the  sort, 
previously  discovered,  taken  together. 

These  sculptures  are  executed  with  aston- 
ishing spirit  and  beauty — a  circumstance  that 
is  the  more  marvellous,  when  we  take  into 
account  the  early  age  in  which  they  were 
produced.  In  point  of  antiquity,  they  cannot 
be  very  much  inferior  to  the  monuments  of 
Egypt ;  but  they  far  surpass  them  in  respect 
of  the  fidelity,  the  ease,  and  the  elegance  with 
which  they  are  executed.  The  scenes  and 
objects  represented  are  exceedingly  varied  ; 
but  all  are  characterized  by  masterly  concep- 
tion and  consummate  taste.     We  allude  not 


APPENDIX.  165 

only  to  the  spirit  and  grace  thrown  into  the 
piece  by  skilful  grouping,  and  other  artistic 
means,  but  the  genius  and  taste  of  the  artist 
have  not  deserted  him,  even  in  the  minor  ob- 
jects and  minute  details  with  which  the  piece 
is  filled  up.  Vases,  drinking-cups,  sword 
scabbards  adorned  with  lions,  shields  deco- 
rated with  animals  and  flowers — chairs,  ta- 
bles, and  other  articles  of  domestic  use — 
bracelets,  ear-rings,  and  other  personal  orna- 
ments, occur  in  the  sculptures  ;  and  all  are 
designed  in  so  bold  a  style,  and  so  beautifully 
finished,  that  they  are  said  to  rival  the  pro- 
ductions of  the  best  days  of  the  Greek  art. 

There  is  one  very  noticeable  circumstance 
about  these  chambers.  The  alabaster  lining 
of  their  walls  is  covered  on  the  back  with 
sculptures  and  inscriptions.  This  can  be  sat- 
isfactorily accounted  for  only  by  supposing 
that  the  palace  had  on  some  occasion  been 
taken  possession  of  by  a  new  dynasty,  and 
finding  it  covered  with  the  graven  records  of 
its  predecessors,  which  it  was  natural  the  new 
race  should  wish  to  conceal,  they  reversed  the 
tablets,  and  began  to  engrave  them  anew  on  the 
other  side  with  the  events  of  their  own  history. 


166  APPENDIX. 

Underneath  the  bricks  of  which  the  floor 
is  composed  stone  repositories  have  been  dis- 
covered, filled  with  small  clay  enamelled 
figures  of  men  and  animals,  but  unaccompa- 
nied by  any  thing  to  explain  them,  in  an- 
other place  have  been  found  great  rows  of 
earthen  vases  of  a  remarkable  size,  placed  on 
a  brick  floor,  and  filled  with  human  bones, 
similar  to  those  found  at  Babylon.  The  pal- 
ace has  suffered  from  fire,  for  its  materials  are 
calcined  in  many  places,  and  has  been  plun- 
dered before  being  destroyed  ;  for  neither 
gems,  nor  any  thing  of  value,  not  even  the 
small  cylinders  so  numerous  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, have  been  found  in  it — a  verification, 
surely,  of  the  prophet's  words  addressed  to 
the  conquerors  of  Nineveh  :  "  Take  ye  the 
spoil  of  silver,  take  ye  the  spoil  of  gold." 

This  discovery  is  of  great  importance  in  an 
archaeological  point  of  view.  It  supplies  a 
link  which  has  hitherto  been  wanting,  and 
the  want  of  which  has  long  been  felt,  be- 
tween the  infancy  and  the  perfection  of  the 
arts — between  their  dawn  in  Egypt  and  their 
noon  in  Greece.  There  occur  a  few  brief 
and  incidental  allusions  to  this  subject  both  in 


APPENDIX.  1G7 

the  Old  Testament  and  in  the  writings  of  the 
Greek   historians ;    but    these   hints   are  too 
vague  to  allow  us  to  draw  any  certain  con- 
clusion as  to  the  state  of  the  arts  under  the 
Babylonians  and  Persians.     But  this  rare  dis- 
covery, by  which  we  have  been  put  most  un- 
expectedly in  possession  of  a  vast  number  of 
beautiful  specimens   from   the  chisels  of  the 
Babylonian  and  Persian  sculptors,  promises  to 
make  us  soon  as  intimately  acquainted  with 
the  state  of  art  in  the  countries  in  question  as 
we  already  are  with  its  condition  in  Egypt 
and  Greece.     The  intelligent  reader  will  ob- 
serve how  this  again  sheds  light  on  the  Bible. 
There  are  not  a  few  points  in  the  scriptural 
account  of  Babylon  and  Nineveh  which  the 
sculptures  of  this  subterranean  edifice  authen- 
ticate and   verify.     Babylon  is  described  in 
the  Bible  as  a  land  of  graven  images — a  state- 
ment which  would  lead  us  to  infer,  that  in  the 
country  of  Babylonia  the  arts  were  univer- 
sally diffused,  and  had  attained  some  degree 
of  perfection.     There  is  the  most  perfect  ac- 
cordance on  this  point  between  the  pages  of 
the  Bible  and  the  walls  of  this  palace.     We 
find  mention  made,  too,  of  the  "  pleasant  fur- 


163 


APPENDIX. 


niture"  of  Nineveh ;  and  we  find  articles  of 
this  description  frequently  introduced  in  the 
bass-reliefs  we  have  described.  Moreover- 
the  absence  of  every  thing  of  value,  and  the 
marks  of  fire  still  visible  on  the  edifice,  make 
it  apparent  that  it  was  first  plundered  and 
then  burnt,  as  the  prophet  foretold.  Little 
did  the  builders  of  this  edifice  imagine  the 
singular  fortune  that  awaited  it — that  it  should 
long  outlast  the  Assyrian  monarchy  itself; 
and  after  being  buried  for  ages  in  darkness, 
should  be  brought  forth  to  the  light,  to  be  the 
marvel  of  the  last  ages  of  the  world,  and  to 
bear  its  testimony  to  matters  of  infinitely 
higher  moment  to  man  than  the  magnificence 
of  the  art  with  which  it  was  so  profusely  de- 
corated— even  the  supremacy  and  truth  of 
that  God  who  foretold  by  his  prophets  its  de- 
struction, and  that  of  the  power  that  flour- 
ished in  it,  ere  yet  a  stone  of  it  had  been  over- 
thrown. 

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